


I Say Henshin, You Run!

by KamenRiderW



Series: The Seoul Branch of Kamen Riders Drama [1]
Category: B.A.P, K-pop, Kamen Rider, VIXX
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, B.A.P. and Kamen Riders, Complete, Fear, Have no idea for other tags, Kamen Rider stuff, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Pain, VIXX and Kamen Riders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-31
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 06:25:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 34,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8435038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KamenRiderW/pseuds/KamenRiderW
Summary: The Seoul branch of Kamen Riders, a rag tag team that find their way in the world of fighting. Daehyun gets drug into it somehow, and driven by his need to protect Youngjae from the monsters in the night, he gives it his best shot.All the while, Cha Hakyeon, Kamen Rider VIXX, is facing his final henshin soon. And to say he's scared would be an understatement. If only there was some way to protect the man that was ripping his heart out. But hey, he was ok. He hoped.Anything Kamen Rider will be explained, so don't worry about needing to be in the fandom.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea when watching Kamen Rider Ex-Aid and I thought it was really cool if VIXX or B.A.P. were secretly Kamen Riders. ^_^ So enjoy, and I don't know Korean honorifics, so if you could teach me some, I'd be more than grateful. I discovered K-pop on accident, because I'm Japanese trash... so... yeah.
> 
> Please don't hate to much on this idea, its the first K-Pop fanfic I've ever written, and yay. So enjoy!

It was late, unnaturally so. Probably around midnight, and Daehyun was just getting home from his second job. His bones were tired and weary, and he had had a little too much alcohol. Courtesy of the bar tender he worked with who understand Daehyun situation. Even from a child, Daehyun hated the dark… it scared the crap out of him. But he kept going, because what other choice did he have?

Daehyun stumbled down the street, readjusting his bag on his back. Was it heavier tonight then it normally was? Suddenly his body jolted like he’d been electrocuted, his whole form falling against the wall, shaking. Why did his body feel like it was falling apart? He tripped over something and fell face first to the ground. Daehyun hissed, clutching his aching ankle. He glared at the object he tripped over, but the look washed away. Of course Daehyun couldn’t see what it was, there were no street lamps illuminating this part of town. He shuffled his phone out before turning the mini flashlight on to shine over the thing.  Lying at his feet was an odd shaped belt. It had a thick, black front plate with a grey outer rim. Daehyun pushed himself to a crouch.

“What are you?” Daehyun asked, poking at the small little thing. Immediately, warmth spread in his gut. Daehyun found himself reaching out towards it with wanting hands like it was calling for him. He lifted it up to his eye level, turning it over in his hands before standing up. What was it, honestly? Daehyun’s best guess was that it was a belt, or something close to it. It sort of looked like it, with tiny little levers on the side. He pushed one of the levers down, but it popped up immediately. Daehyun shook it slightly, but it was silent. What if he… he put it to his waist? A long belt shot out from the sides and wrapped around his hips and suddenly a searing hot pain erupted in his lower gut. Daehyun dropped to his knees, curling into a fetal position. His mouth opened in a silent scream as the belt burned through his shirt and into his skin, sinking beneath the flesh. Daehyun looked down at his gut in horror, where the belt used to be. He felt it inside him, shifting against his internal organs. Daehyun clutched his gut before shakily getting to his feet. 

He stumbled down the road with the belt moving beneath his skin, burning its way through his body. As soon as he got home he looked at himself in the mirror to see his skin burning red. Upon touch, he hissed with tears forming in his eyes. Why did all the bad things happen to him? What had he done to deserve it? Maybe he’d finally die? No more fake smiles, no more fake fooling around. He stumbled through his mean ass old neighbor’s yard before pulling open his apartment door, first floor. The door squealed as he pushed it open with his shoulder and he didn’t even bother to lock it behind him. It took too much time and his gut was on fire, he just wanted to sleep. If someone easily broke into his home, which happened multiple times before, then so be it. This, hopefully, was a nightmare.

 

The sound of Daehyun’s alarm woke the boy up, but he found he wasn’t in bed. No, he was lying face up on the floor. Daehyun was sure he’d fallen asleep in bed though. His eyes widened before he rushed to one of the many mirrors in his room. He pulled up his shirt, fear making him think the worst. However, his skin had remained the same color, and when he pressed on where the object had disappeared into, he felt nothing.

“A dream then,” he whispered, releasing a sigh of relief. He couldn’t help but smile before picking out his clothes to start the day. Everything was going to be just fine.

“A new one has awakened? Here? Two in one city? How is that even possible?” A tall, slenderly-built man stated looking up at another tall man. “Is he like me?”

“I think we need more help, this is the sign. As him being like you, I don’t think so. He’s not as strong as you,” the other man stated.

“Do we approach him now or later? I have to be in the studio at two.” 

“Not yet. Bang told me to tell you to leave him be until the power awakens,” the taller boy stated before walking away. The shorter of the two sighed before rolling his eyes. That kid followed after Bang like a lovestruck puppy, and Hakyeon had much better things to do. 


	2. Chapter 2: The Belt awoke

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, second chapter guys. Sorry he awoke so fast, that was kinda the point. Anyway, enjoy Cha Hakyeon and him meeting finally, two completely different riders! ^-^

It wasn’t long before Daehyun found himself walking down the hall quietly, dodging out of the way of people. He usually kept to himself, however. He wasn’t one to be popular, and the other student’s dislike of him was pretty clear. So he didn’t really try. It was usually uneventful as he made his way to his next class after lunch. Which lunch happened to be his favorite class, btw. If the food was good at least and if his body hadn’t been been hurting all morning.

Daehyun sunk into his history room seat before setting his navy blue bag down. He pulled out his folder and pencil before setting them on his desk. Suddenly, another wave of pain washed over him and Daehyun winced, clutching his stomach. All morning, his stomach had been hurting, but he didn’t know why. Maybe he was getting sick, which was just as well? It wasn’t like Daehyun needed to make ends meet to keep his mother in the hospital. They didn’t teach stuff like that at school, but thank god they know how to find slopes of graphs. Thank God. It was at that time the teacher came into the room after the bell rang and closed the door behind him.

“Ok, class, we’ll be starting this morning with a video of the oldest story known to humankind. The Epic of Gilgamesh. There’s a Youtube video that explains it better than I can,” Mr. Kim ( **A/N Sorry, I don’t know Korean honorifics. I literally have just come straight out of the Japanese area).**

Things were going great, the movie was interesting. Even to Daehyun, who usually was allowed to sleep through every movie ever played except for  _ Amistad _ . It was funny, in a way. Gilgamesh was an asshole, simple as that and he shipped the two main characters together anyway. So things were really going great until that similar pain erupted in his gut, even stronger than before. Strong enough to make his whole body shake and it felt like something was coming up. 

“Daehyun?” His teacher asked, noticing the sickness passing through the student’s eyes. “Go to the nurse, just go!” And Daehyun nodded before getting out of his chair and stumbling out of the door. He didn’t make it far before his vision was blurred and he collapsed against the wall. Instinctively he knew only to pull his knees to his chest and squeeze his eyes shut in hopes that it’d eventually pass. He didn’t notice when a shadow fell over him until there was a hand on his shoulder.

“Who are you?” Daehyun whimpered, hand clutching his head. The man squatted down to Daehyun’s level. He wore a pure white leather vest that complemented his tanner skin, and he wore tight white jeans that left little to the imagination. However, he had a fierce determined look in his eyes that clashed with his bright red hair.

The man reached out a slender hand to Daehyun’s stomach, and pressed down on it. His eyebrows flew up in surprise. Daehyun jerked violently as another wave of pain washed over him. 

“You’re awakening fully,” the man stated in uprise, grinding his palm further into the painful area. “It’s stronger than I thought.”

“What is happening?” Daehyun cried, trying to weakly ush the other man away.

“You’re going to be fine. Just close your eyes for now and I’ll explain everything later,” the man replied. And maybe it was the pain or the fear… but Daehyun listened. Everything turned black after that.

 

The first thing Daehyun noticed when he awoke later was that the pain was gone. There was a low hum resonating through his body, and oddly, it felt familiar. He looked at the thing pinching the fold of his arm, an IV. Suddenly his eyes flew open and he's at up so fast he was dizzy.

He was sitting in a small bed, blankets pulled up to his chest. Or they used to, but now they were pooled at his waist. He was in a windowless room, and the only light as the soft glow of a lamp sitting on a coffee table pushed to the far wall. The lamp shade was cute, little baby elephants the color of smurfs prancing on a soft white background. Beside the coffee table was a simple, maroon chair, its cushion long since worn out. Beside it sat a small black box probably the size of a dictionary, with a huge metal lock on it. Daehyun was interrupted, however, when the large oak door leading to the room opened. 

A familiar face stepped into the room, almost dropping the tray he was holding in shock. The boy was tall, much taller than Daehyun and had bright purple colored hair. He was wearing a simple t-shirt stretched over his large chest and dark faded jeans. He was wearing bright green socks and no shoes.

“Junhong,” Daehyun rasped, finding his voice weak. 

“You’re awake, oh my god, you’re awake. Hold on,I’ll get Hakyeon o-or Yongguk-hyung!”Then Junhong quickly set the tray down and disappeared out the door. Seconds later, the same man entered from before. This time he wasn't as dressed up,wearing only a thin grey t-shirt and tight blue jeans that hugged his curves. Daehyun had to admit, he was attractive.

“Junhong, get Yongguk-hyung,” the man stated and the younger/ taller boy ran out of the room.

“Who are you?” Daehyun asked as the other man sat on the bed beside him. He climbed backwards until he sat cross legged in the middle, his eyes peered straight at Daehyun. It was unnerving.

“My name is Cha Hakyeon, my upcoming state name is N,” the man, Hakyeon, started with a brilliant grin. “And… i’m Kamen Rider VIXX.”

“Kamen… Rider?” Daehyun tested out, the words foreign on his tongue. It wasn’t korien, that was for sure.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s Japanese. But I’d rather it be Kamen, pronounced Kah-men and not kay-men, then something stupid like wonder man or something,” Hakyeon corrected and Daehyun couldn’t help but smile.

Cha Hakyeon had a familiar personality, Daehyun realised. It was exactly like his, even the under tone of sadness. Cha Hakyeon had something large bothering him and Daehyun found himself wanting to know what it was.

“Kamen Rider, what is it? Other than a masked rider?” Daehyun asked, pushing the blankets away from himself. 

“Well, they’re Japanese heroes,” Hakyeon stated looking Daehyun in the eye. “They fight various organizations on their own, but some have crews that help them. Or some even have a secondary rider, so welcome to our little group.”

“Welcome? What does this have to do with me?” 

“Well, you’re one, now,” Hakyeon stated before jabbing Daehyun’s stomach painfully. “Let me guess, you were walking home one night and you stumbled upon an odd object, you picked it up because you thought it would be a good idea. Put it to your waist even, and it burned through. Recently, you’ve been having sever, sickening pains since that. Normally, for this type of driver, your full awakening should happened a few weeks from now. But you awoke within a day, which isn’t right. But oh well?” 

Daehyun’s mouth dropped open, because Hakyeon had described it right. That meant that that hadn’t been a dream and there really was something inside him that normally shouldn't be.

“It's ok,” Hakyeon stated, seeing his panicked look. “It's not going to hurt you. IN fact, the opposite. A driver had two jobs. A) Activates when you’re in danger, ultimately keeping you alive. B) It encourages you to fight anything endangering the world. But every once in awhile, you’ll come across one that… destroys its user with the unused energy running through it”

“Do you…?” Daehyun found himself asked and N raised an eyebrow towards him. “Do you have one of those?”

Hakyeon sighed before leaning back against the pillows. He connected his fingertips together making an oval shape over his waist. The area around Hakyeon’s hands started shimmering, then suddenly a similar looking object appeared, wrapping around Hakyeon's slender waist. It was a different color, light blue with red hellish flames circling up the side, and it was a lot smaller than the one Daehyun had picked up.

“I was walking home with my Taekwoon, with taekwoon,” Hakyeon  corrected himself sadly, shaking his head weakly. “When Ravi came by, he took Taekwoon with him. So I… followed after them because I felt like something  _ bad _ was going to happen. Long story short, this belt found Taekwoon like yours found you. But at the same time, mine called out to the both of us, and I knew what fate it would cause immediately. Call it a second sense, so I took it from Leo before he could put it on himself, ultimately changing his fate. I couldn’t let it… hurt taekwoon.”

“Hakyeon?” Daehyun whispered and the latter laughed weakly.

“Trust me, your driver is different. Mine is something…. else,” Hakyeon answered, smiling brightly again and Daehyun could see oh to well through it. The man in front of him was scared, utterly terrified. And Daehyun could understand, he knew exactly why Hakyeon had taken the driver for himself instead of letting the other guy, Taekwoon, take it. It was unreturned love, unrequited. 

“But that’s enough for one day,” Hakyeon stated, patting Daehyun on the back. “You can either eat what Junhong cooked you, and I’m pretty sure that’s not edible. Or I can take you out to get real food.”

“Real food,” Daehyun chose, grinning at the mention of food. 

Daehyun was startled when a tray was sat down right in front of his face. N plopped down in the seat opposite of him, quickly handing out their purchases. Daehyun picked out the chicken nugget and large fries before grabbing the chocolate chip frappe he ordered. N handed him the fruit pie and batch of cookies he ordered to. Cha Hakyeon himself had gotten a simple sandwich and medium fries, proclaiming he’d already eaten for the day and was on a diet. 

Daehyun’s eyes wandered to the people bustling about in the restaurant and outside of the mall. It was late in the evening and high school students were blowing off time used for studying by window shopping and being a nuisance. Or if they had money, they were spending it like the fools they were. Kids his age could be total retards. But if Daehyun didn’t hvae to supprot his bed ridden mother and his father’s funeral costs, he’d probably have joined those kids. In different circumstances, Daehyun believed that his old friend Youngjae, who became popular and mean after leaving Daehyun’s side, and his own roles would have been reversed. 

But hey, at least the food was good. It was good in the way McDonald’s fattening food was. Rich, salty, greasy. Daehyun’s favorite. That’s when he remembered one of his part time jobs at the Hardees up north of there. Shit. He started to get up, hoping his boss wouldn’t fire him for being over 3 hours late.

“Hey sit down. I’ve already gotten your job and school covered. You’ll be training with us everyday after school from here to the future,” Hakyeon interrupted, almost like he read Daehyun’s mind. Maybe it was a Kamen Rider thing?

“But my mother’s hospital bills, my father’s funeral bill. I have to work to keep my mom alive!” Daehyun hissed, angrily tossing a wrapper at Hakyeon. How could this man, who seemed to be rich and important and everything Daehyun aspired to be possibly understand what he was going through?

“Yeah well, I covered that for a few months already, and your dad’s bill is all good. You are ultimately good for awhile,” Hakyeon replied.

Daehyun stared at him in shock, his chicken nugget dropping from his hands. “T-taken care of? You paid my bills?” Daehyun was even more outraged! How dare this absolute stranger take pity on him and his situation before turning around to try and fix it? He can handle it on his own!

“I just thought you should see your mother more often is all,” Hakyeon answered casually, not even looking up at Daehyun. “And if you were always working, you’d miss the moments you should have.”

Daehyun found himself unable to answer that. He’d always been so determined to keep his mother alive and fed, he hadn’t realized that the last time he talked to her was four months ago. Oh god, he was a horrible son.

“She misses you,” N stated, finally looking up at him. “Her condition has gotten a lot worse, Daehyun. You need to spend as much time with her as you can,”

He’d known it would. Brain cancer did that to a person. But the thought made him want to cry, because no child should have to face the fact of losing both of their parents. He didn’t want to lose his mom.

“I know she does,” Daehyun answered quietly. His mom had gotten sick a year and a half ago. Being hospitalized within the first few months. She would have had a chance if she went in for an MRI sooner, but she hadn’t. The doctor had told her, hoping Daehyun wasn’t around to hear, but he had been.  He had heard that she only had a few more months to live. Six at the most. That the cancer had already been growing for at least eight months before they caught it. However, that had been at least a year ago. Since February, his mom had been living on borrowed time. And the last time Daehyun had went to see her, she’d told him that it was because she wanted her little baby to be ok. And she wouldn’t let go until then. Daehyun had sobbed into his pillow after that, it was hard.

Daehyun was grateful of course. But it frustrated him to no end. His mother had been kind, loving, and supportive and she was dying. She’d been the only person who’d accepted him for liking his own gender, even when his best friend hadn’t. And when his momma died, Daehyun would be utterly, entirely alone. 18 years, at least, kept him safe from social services. Bottom line, though, he didn’t want his mother to die, but he knew there was nothing he could do. He thought distancing himself from her would help, maybe make the pain less so when she died, he’d just be numb. 

“You should go and see her after this Daehyun. While you still have time. Don’t let yourself be too… late,” Hakyeon added and Daehyun nodded. He’d go and visit her later now that he had time.

“Anyways,” Hakyeon sighed, smashing one of the boxs in his hands. “What I was trying to say was that you are going to train with us. No buts. If you’re not trained properly, you’re going to end up dead.”

“Oh,” Daehyun answered looking down at his hands. “What does the job entail?”

Cha Hakyeon grinned at him. “How do you feel about saving the world? You’re a Kamen Rider now!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know I've been neglecting this story! Aish! Don't get mad. *Hides behind trash can* please!??
> 
> So, a couple of these chapters are just fillers to give some back ground knowledge on the characters. Plus Banglo soon, so any fellow Banglo shippers ;)

Daehyun was still in shock after the two parted ways, Daehyun promising that he’d show up at the same place he awoke tomorrow after school. Apparently, Hakyeon was too excited for Daehyun to meet everyone. It was endearing, in a way.

However, he was shocked when he ended up standing in front of the hospital his mother was at. It was tiny compared to some others Daehyun had seen, but he didn’t mind. He use to know every single person who worked or was living there, and he used to have every room memorized. But it’d been four months, and when he walked in through the door he heard the receptionist gasp. Visiting hours were long over, but for some reason they always let Daehyun in late at night. Maybe because he was always at work, and his mother refused to let him drop out. Or maybe it was because the hospital was so small that Daehyun had become a regular. Just a lost boy who was about to lose his mother.

“Daehyun!” Nia exclaimed, clamoring over to the teenage boy. She looked over him like he was her own son before grabbing his collar roughly. “How dare you abandon your mother like that!? I ought to put you over my knee and give you a lesson about family love.”

“It’s ok, Nia. I’ve been extremely busy recently, but since I didn’t have to go to work tonight, I came here,” Daehyun replied before the elder woman huffed before dragging Daehyun down one of the three halls. He recognized this one, maroon hallway. Or that’s what he called it. His mom’s room was #26 in Maroon Hallway and Nia dragged him all the way there like she feared Daehyun would run away.

“Sorry to bother you Mrs.Jung, but your son finally dropped by,” Nia exclaimed before shoving Daehyun into the room and sliding the door shut behind him.

Suddenly there was movement in the bed in front of him and his mother weakly lifted her head. She had a constant IV in her arms pumping liquids and pain medicines into her and her heart beat was a lot slower then he remembered. Her skin was deathly pale, her body thinner than he’d ever seen it. Plus, his mother must have finally chosen to do chemotherapy because she was missing almost all of her hair. Daehyun almost sobbed from the sight. She really was worse off then he had thought.

“Daehyun,” she rasped before a sob forced its way out of her chest. Daehyun dropped the flower he held before surging forward to take her hand in his. He leaned over the side of the bed to wrap his arms around the woman.

“Momma, I’m so sorry,” Daehyun sobbed, holding the woman who had raised him close. “I’m so sorry.”

“Its ok,” his mom answered, kissing Daehyun’s cheek like he was a little kid. This time he didn’t complain. “You still came. I’ve missed you so much. We all have.” 

“I missed you to mom,” Daehyun answered. “I’m sorry I couldn’t come, I’ve been so busy with work and school… I didn’t have any time anymore.”

That caused his mother to sob once again, making a weak fist before slamming it into the bed. “This was never supposed to be your responsibility. You were supposed to have a childhood, a youth, and I’ve only taken that away from you.”

“It’s not your fault mom, I just want you to focus on getting better,” Daehyun answered, releasing his mother before pulling a chair over. “Anyway, your bills have been paid off for a few months. I don’t have to worry about getting a job anymore.”

“That boy that came by earlier… he’s the one who said he’d take care of you?” His mother asked and Daehyun nodded. 

“His name is Cha Hakyeon, and he’s helping me out for a little bit. Momma… I’m going to become a hero and protect the world.”

“I always knew you were special Daehyunnie. Always,” his mother answered, grinning up at her boy. He’d grown so much, and had become so mature that it was a shock. “I’ve been out of the loop for awhile, so you’re going to have to tell me what’s been going on. And then maybe we can go raid the kitchen and aggressively play monopoly against Nia?”

“Sounds like a plan, Mom. So recently i’ve been….” Daehyun didn’t know how to stop talking after that. He hadn’t realized just how much he missed his mom, and it was like reconnecting after old times. And Daehyun had the best night of his life. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another filler chapter, just to meet some of the guys. Lolz.

Daehyun snuck in through the partially closed door, pulling his bag from his back. The sun was late in the sky, and so was he. Not in the sky, but late for his meeting.  Hopefully his instructor wouldn’t be mad, but it really hadn’t been his fault. Youngjae was just an asshole, simple as that. He was excited, though, and even what his bullies did to him didn’t stop that excitement. He was finally going to start his training! 

“Daehyunnie,” Hakyeon cooed as the other came into sight. The older man was reclined in a chair, feet propped up on what  looked like a weak, old coffee table. Beside him sat a cup of coffee gone cold. In front of him, a soap opera played out mutedly. “Took you long enough! I got bored!”

“Sue me, I have school you know. I can’t be an uneducated swine like you,” Daehyun retorted, grinning just as wide as Hakyeon did. The later playfully punched his shoulder. 

“I have an education in beauty,” Hakyeon replied before getting out of the chair and turned the tv off. “Anyway, I’ve had enough of General Hospital. Come on! They’re all here except for Junhong.”

Daehyun grinned before nodding excitedly. Cha Hakyeon led him through a far door, opening up to a large dining room. The table was at least ten feet long, and six chairs sat on each side and two at the ends. The table was completely clear and spotless, the room was minimal in decorations. It offered no homely feeling. But Daehyun was sure he’d come to enjoy the place. Hakyeon hadn’t said it, but he’d most likely be seeing a lot of this place.

“Sorry no one’s out here, we don’t usually hang around the dining room or in the front of the building,” Hakyeon added and to punctuate it, Daehyun’s stomach growled. “That door right there, the blue one is the kitchen. But you’re not allowed in there till our cook finishes, and then you can eat.”

Daehyun nodded sadly, clutching his stomach like he was dying. It felt like he was. It’d been four hours since he ate a piece of cheesecake, and it was looking like he’d continue to starve to death. Next Hakyeon took him through another door which led them to a long corridor with a bunch of rooms with beautiful maple doors shut to the world. Some of them had colorful name tags on them. He counted at least six rooms on each side, and the space in between each door was small, suggesting the rooms were, to. He looked down at the carpet to find it a soft pink, plush color. However, other than that, the hall was as bare as the dining room. It was almost like the people who probably lived here weren’t materialistic, but even Daehyun was that way and he had very limited time in a day. They came past an open door and Daehyun heard two people talking in a harsh whisper. Daehyun thought N would barge right in, but the other didn’t. They came to the end of the hall where it branched off into two different directions. Daehyun noticed the little arrows pointing to each direction, but there were no identification plaques as to what was that way. The hall to his left was dark and lead to two, closed off rooms. The hallway to his right, though, was a large contrast of color and brightness.

Small taped multi-colored streamers hung from the wall. They were pinned there hurriedly, but in an endearingly manner. There were no closed doors this time and light spilled out into the halls. A happy birthday sign was tacked up on the opposite wall of the streamers. Blue balloons were taped there in a messy, rushed way but it got Daehyun to wondering. He loved birthday parties, always had. He faintly heard music softly playing from inside one of the rooms, K-pop rap (Big Bang he was sure), so Daehyun guessed that was were everyone was congregating.

“So we have a lot of people go through here in a month’s time. But the most permanent members stay here, like our division leader, Bang Yongguk. You have the choice to stay here, too. Um… oh yeah, that room there is Yongguk’s lab. The one on the left. Stay out of it unless you’re requested, knock, or I don’t know, hear an explosion. The room diagonal to it is the training room, that’s where you’re going to learn how to fight with your driver. This is the den to your right, there’s the second living room right there where everyone spends most of their time.”

“”Who’s birthday is it?” Daehyun interrupted, earning a glare from Hakyeon.

“I’ll get to it, gosh. Anyway, the room adjacent to the living room is the mini-hospital. If you’re not dying or going to die, that’s where we patch you up after battles. Beside that are the bathrooms and showers, then the other room beside that is literally our watch tower.  See that screen door? It leads to our outdoor center. Pool, plants, fun. Oh yeah, beyond the training room is the garage where we keep our bikes.”

“Bikes!?”

“Silence, peasant. Today is a special day, its Junhong’s birthday!” Hakyeon stated suddenly. “But I forgot how old he is, so don’t tell him.”

“He’s 17,” Daehyun answered, annoyed as he rolled his eyes.

“Hyungs! I’m home!” A familiar voice shouted, startling the two. Junking burst through the door before slamming it behind him in his usual excitement. He skipped down the hall before coming to a stop right in front of Daehyun with a look of shock. Suddenly a door to ‘Yongguk’s lab’ opened and in answer, a man stuck his head out. He was a tall, thin male with brown hair that cut off to shaved at one point. A weird hair style, but it made the guy look pretty cool. 

“Junhongie” the man said, his voice was really deep and heavy. “Happy Birthday.”

“Yonggukie- hyung!” The latter replied excitedly, shaking as his eyes met the others.

“Wait, Junhong. Is this the man you always talked about in class? the one you’re obsessed with?” Daehyun asked in shock, because sometimes that had been the only thing he’d talked about. And Junhong’s face turned absolutely red all the way to his ears. 

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Junhong stuttered before disappearing behind the door with Yongguk. Daehyun couldn’t help but roll his eyes with a small smile, Yongguk had really made Junhong more happy, and it was totally worth it. A year ago, the guy was depressed about his family situation, but one day he came to school with the brightest smile on his face and a skip in his step. So, totally worth it.  

“I was going to say something, but I don’t think I need to. You already know what’s up,” Hakyeon stated and Daehyun nodded, of course he knew.

“See that adorable little maknae right there? His name is Sanghyuk and he’s my reinforcement,” Hakyeon said, pointing to a tall, young boy with soft, brown hair. “And that guy with the fake glasses is his friend, Hongbin. They’re part of the rookie band to, if you didn’t know. There are two others here named Moon Jongup and Kim Himchan. Jongup is around your age, or Junhong’s more. But he goes to a different school.”

Hakyeon took him further into the room. “They’re regulars here, you’ll see them the most. Hey guys, this is our newest Kamen Rider.” 

Suddenly Daehyun wa surrounded by the other people chattering about, asking questions and shaking his hand or bowing. It was more lively then something Daehyun had ever encountered. And he found himself liking it.


	5. Chapter 5: (Banglo Moment)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, like Banglo moments in here. Yongguk is just trying to figure out if Junhong has any of Hakyeon's symptoms considering the driver that lays dormant in him is just as powerful. Kamen Rider names for Junhong though?

“Who’s the new guy?” Yongguk asked as he led Junking over to his desk. The boy sat down in the extra chair that Yongguk always had around.

“Oh that’s Jung Daehyun. He’s my friend from school,” Junhong grinned, making another grin appear on Yongguk’s face. Yongguk nodded before sitting down beside Junhong. He leaned back in his chair for a few seconds, probably thinking like Yongguk did a lot. Junhong noticed the dark circles underneath Yongguk’s eyes, and it made him worry. Yongguk almost never got enough sleep anymore despite Junhong forcing him to. Always excuses. Always.

“How are you?” Yongguk asked, his eyes trained on the maknae of the group. “Nothing’s been changed or different?”

It was natural for Yongguk to worry, of course. It had been his fault. Or he blamed himself at least. Junhong hated it, and he knew that deep down. But Junhong had been completely normal until he’d met Yongguk, and they’d both solitary strangers in the beginning. If Yongguk wouldn’t have found him crying outside the front door to their current hideout, maybe what happened wouldn’t have. However, he’d walked over to the boy and asked what was wrong and whether or not he could help. He’d found out that Junhong had stumbled upon the tiny building, and collapsed in front of it in tears because he had gotten beat up at school by bullies again and his parents had blamed him for it. Then they’d hit him again, and told him to leave. Junhong had even forgotten to grab a coat in his haste, so Yongguk had invited him inside and gave him some tea right from the kettle. And in that single night, he had gotten to know the boy and found that they shared a few things in common, rapping, lyric writing and music, and many of the same books and movies. It was a true friendship, and the first Yongguk had had in a long time. 

And it was Junhong who convinced Yongguk to open up the Seoul branch of the Kamen Rider Protection League (K.R.P.L. for short). He’d been avoiding it because it scared him, he’d end up being a leader just like Yongnam and he didn’t want that. He liked being free, free of worries, free of responsibility. And Yongnam had  given him this building in case Yongguk ever changed his mind. It’d been a few weeks when he first stumbled upon Cha Hakyeon, fresh from his awakening. The man was hysterical and deathly afraid, and plus he was an upcoming star. Two days later, one of the kaijin threatened Jung Taekwoon and Hakyeon fought it off with a murderous rage and then he vowed to be Yongguk’s ally, and a member of the Seoul branch. And then the man collapsed after that and fell asleep for an entire day, which should have raised red flags when it happened. But they didn’t listen in the beginning, which would forever be one of Yongguk’s greatest mistakes. 

However, they were in the business.

Except Yongguk worried for their first rider. He’d handled the burden already, and he had carried it without complaint. But both Yongguk and Junhong, even Sanghyuk, saw him slowing down gradually. He still fought the same amount and he wouldn’t stop, but they knew he forced himself into some of those fights. The man just kept having longer recoup time and a hell of a lot more pain medicine, and he still kept going. Frankly, it scared the leader with the driven personality the man seemed to exhibit. He could see the pain and fear of dying in the man’s ever watchful eyes, but his smile was still genuine and his wish to protect remained real. They didn’t talk about who Hakyeon was protecting, but that matter was entirely there. The man was extremely lucky to have won the affections of Cha Hakyeon, because the man turned out to settle and become devoted. Hakyeon wasn’t the kind of man that would do that, but he seemed to settle on just one. And Yongguk had met this infamous Jung Taekwoon multiple times, enough to realize that their personalities were so different they should’ve clashed. And they never had, not badly. They knew each other so well anymore that fighting just didn’t work. 

It was upon that whole Jung Taekwoon thing going on with Hakyeon that had prompted Yongguk to do something. He didn’t want the eccentric man to die, because he was so devotedly in love he’d been blinded. Blinded that if he were to simply die, nothing would change. But it would, it would change the whole world like a firestorm. And it would destroy Jung Taekwoon’s utterly and completely. It hadn’t been Hakyeon who Taekwoon had come to asking why Hakyeon seemed to be in pain so much. Hakyeon was so far in his head thinking that Taekwoon wouldn’t care he didn’t see what his deterioration was doing to the other.

So Yongguk had attempted to put his brain to good use. He recreated Hakyeon’s driver, calibrating it to have a softer physical blow then N’s. And with that, he hoped to learn how to calibrate Cha’s. It was there, the whole thing kinda blew up in Yongguk’s face. See, he created the driver right. It was alive and had a conscience like the other two drivers… but it was different from the start. It didn’t prefer to work with Yongguk at all, it was like it hated his guts. And they got absolutely nowhere and Yongguk had been getting frustrated. He blew up on Junhong (and it wasn’t even Junhong’s fault) before storming out of the room. Somewhere in between there Junhong had made a mistake and when he returned he saw Junhong laying unconscious on the floor. It had scared him, and then Junhong wouldn’t wake up. His whole body was on fire, and that’s when he noticed the driver was missing. Yongguk had rolled the boy over… only to find the driver around Junhong’s waist. He’d been so afraid, but as soon as he touched the driver, Junhong’s eyes had shot wide open. 

Ever since then, he’d checked to see how Junhong was doing, and the driver. All good things, and even now. Despite it being an exact replica, it lacked the damning properties. And as far as Yongguk could see, Junhong would be ok. The driver wouldn’t use up as much energy as Hakyeon’s did. Which brought them back to square one, because Yongguk had essentially done no calibrations and the ones he had down were so minute that it wouldn’t help Hakyeon at all. When Hakyeon faced the music, he really shouldn’t have.

“Yonggukkie?” Junhong asked, poking the older’s shoulder. “You zoned out again, are you ok?”

“Yeah, sorry. What were you saying?” Yongguk asked, causing Junhong to smile at him sweetly. And it wasn’t like Yongguk felt a flutter in his chest when he really shouldn’t have. 

“What goes on in that funny little head of yours? I said, as usual. I’m good. No pain, no increased hunger, but I have been really tired lately. I don’t know if its the driver, or me not sleeping well at night anymore. Either way, I’m ok,” Junhong answered and Yongguk nodded before writing it down to add into the logs for later. He thought it best to keep a written record of how Junhong was feeling, that way he would notice a change immediately, if there was one. “How’s Hakyeon?”

Yongguk was quiet for a little bit. He never wanted to tell Junhong about the other’s condition, but it had slipped out once. And ever since then, the angel had always been worried for the man. Yongguk couldn’t have protected the secret for long anyway, because by now, everyone knew just what Cha Hakyeon’s fate was whittling down to. “He’s… his pain spiked this morning to a level 8. I don’t think he’s telling us the truth either.”

“I don’t want him to die,” Junhong whispered before leaning into Yongguk’s side gently. “It’s not fair.”

“I think we all don’t want him to, Junnie. But as of right now, there’s nothing we can do for him but let it take its course. I’m still hoping… that maybe there’s someone out there that will still save him for us and make him stop. Because if Hakyeon stops right now, today, he can still live a normal life. And even have kids if he’s lucky enough that the radiation hasn’t hit him to hard yet.” 

They sat in silence for a little bit, listening to each other breath. If someone had told Yongguk that a young man, much younger than him, would become one of the closest people to him besides Himchan, he would have laughed. But Junhong had, and he really did appreciate it. 

“Hey, let’s not ruin your big day. Come on, let’s go get some damn cake,” Yongguk grinned before hoisting Junhong out of his chair to drag him out of the lab.

 

“We’ve come for the cake,” Yongguk exclaimed with a gummy smile as he came around the corner with Junhong a step behind him. Junhong’s friend, Daehyun looked up before grinning at him. As tradition, Yongguk stepped forward and bowed to Daehyun, the other copying. 

“I’m Jung Daehyun!” The latter man exclaimed and Yongguk offered his hand for an american greeting. 

“Bang Yongguk,” he answered. “It’s great to have you on the team, I hope you work well with us! Fighting!” 

“I can’t wait to get started, Yongguk-hyung!” Daehyun answered before Hakyeon came up to him. Yongguk wondered briefly if anyone else could see the haziness in his eyes, or the stiff way he carried his body like any kind of movement hurt. It’d only been three days since he last henshined, and any normal rider shouldn’t have had the similar problem. Yet again, Hakyeon was the outlier. 

“I am the absolute definition of starved, so where’s my cake. JAEHWAN!? CAKE!” Hakyeon shouted before bouncing away with the same amount of energy he always mustered up. Himchan and Jongup, at the probable mention of food, appeared in the room. Like they could sneak in, Yongguk saw everything. And even if they were becoming more friendly with one another, they didn’t have to hide it. The warehouse was a free place. They exchanged brief pleasantries with Daehyun before gathering around the long coffee table in the middle of the room. He heard someone come down the hall, and everyone started settling down with forks and plates ready, chomping at the bit. Jaewhan emerged holding a mega huge cake with eighteen candles, the number, and Happy Birthday Junnie written in the frosting. Then Yongguk remembered the gift he’d gotten Junhong. He took off to the room before snatching the little box. He shoved it into Junhong’s hands when he returned. 

The latter looked at him in confusion. “Yonggukie, you didn’t have to get me anything.”

“I wanted to,” Yongguk answered, his ears turning pink at the very tips. “Today’s your special day… so…”

Junhong grinned before ripping the paper off delicately. He pulled at the tape until it gave way, revealing a small little box. It was the size of a post it note, and when he opened it… his heart started beating wildly. “Yongguk…. I love it. It’s beautiful.” He pulled out a little plaque with Junhong’s picture right in the middle. He was high railing with his skateboard, and the sun hit him just right it almost made him glow. The wood it was hot glued to was intricately crafted to a perfection Junhong had never seen, and he didn’t doubt that it was Yongguk who had taken the picture and carved the wood. 

“I’m glad you like it,” he grinned.

“Awww!!!!” They heard Daehyun exclaim, putting his arm around Junhong’s shoulder. “Someone’s in love.”

“Shut up!” Junhong hissed, hiding his face behind his hands as it went red. 

“You guys are so cute together!” Daehyun sang before escaping from Junhong’s long limbs trying to murder him. Yongguk just kinda stood there, in shock. He wasn’t going to be moving for awhile. 

  
Hakyeon stood in the back of the room with a saddened look on his face, because the guys reminded him of his own best friends. Jaehwan, Sanghyuk, Wonshik, Hongbin, and Taekwoon. Always Taekwoon. It was all so horribly unfair. But… he couldn’t find it in him to hate anyone there, because they were all heroes too. And they loved just as equally as Hakyeon did. It was so unfair. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now Hakyeon's slight background story woohoo!!!! Ya'll need to ship Neo, just saying. Neo for the win. LOLZ! I'm going to break my own heart, and I already know that. 
> 
> If you guys haven't noticed, there really isn't no main OTP ship in this story. Yeah... that was an accident. I swear! 
> 
> I'm a horrible person for hurting Hakyeon so much. But it's going to directly play into the next 'book' so...

“5…6….7….8…” suddenly the music was blaring in all the speakers in their practice room and the entire band twisted to their right before arching their backs to make a sweeping motion with their hands. It was Hakyeon’s turn to lip sync with the music and he missed it before tripping on his own feet, going down beneath himself. He lay chest first on the ground, angrily driving his fist into the ground. Immediately, the only one who knew of his nightly excursions, was at his side. Sanghyuk helped him up, driving in the fact that Hakyeon couldn’t do it himself today. The pain was too bad, overbearing as it made its way through his whole body. 

“Hyung, are you ok?” Sanghyuk asked worriedly. “Do you need me to go and get the…”

“No,” Hakyeon cut him off angrily. “I’m fine.”

“Hakyeon,” Taekwoon said in his sweet, soft voice, leaning down beside N to gently place his hand on the other’s shoulder. “You should take a break, you’ve been stumbling over yourself all day long. Are you feeling ok? Have you been sleeping well at night?”

It surprised him that Taekwoon actually noticed, that he actually had cared. He’d even talked to Hakyeon in complete sentences. And it was like Cha Hakyeon’s heart started beating excitedly at the thought, heat rising up in his cheeks as Taekwoon turned his beautiful gaze towards him for more than ten seconds. Then Wonshik was leaning on his shoulder, his hand around Taekwoon’s arm absentmindedly. It was like ice spread through Hakyeon’s chest, making him sick to the stomach. Physically sick, and tears threatened to spill. Because Hakyeon knew just how close the two were, especially after VIXXLR. And it was like a pang of jealousy would spread through his heart every time he thought about their mutual feelings towards each other. Damn it, Hakyeon wanted Taekwoon to look at him with the same amount of awe and sweetness as he looked at the younger. What did Ravi have that N didn’t? He was willing to change every tiny bit of him if only Taekwoon would look his way. For so long, Hakyeon had thought that Taekwoon liked him. He’d watch all the Youtube videos their starlights had made, but it was like that disappeared. Like Ravi had come along and taken all that away from Hakyeon, and he wanted it back. He wanted to be the one to comfort him, he wanted to be the one that Taekwoon came to when he was bored or wanted to talk. But that had changed while he’d been off busy with other things… it wasn’t fair! 

“I’m fine, get away from me!” Hakyeon hissed, pushing Taekwoon back. Just as he thought, Ravi came to Taekwoon’s rescue, holding the other up. It made his voice shake, it made his eyes water, and it made his heart break once more. He readjusted his cap before forcing himself to get up off of the floor. “I’m going out,” he hissed before storming out of the room. 

Sanghyuk slipped out of the room as quietly as he could, but Hongbin stopped him. “What’s going on with hyung?” 

“I-I…I don’t know,” Sanghyuk answered awkwardly, and Hongbin raised an eyebrow. There was no hiding from Hongbin, they knew each other so well…

“He’s just… tired,” Hyuk finally settled on, and he could tell Hongbin didn’t believe him. But if he didn’t chase after Hakyeon and stop him, the other would get into a fight and get even worse. And he’d promised Yongguk-hyung that he’d keep Hakyeon-hyung out of fights to save him so time. “I have to go, but trust me Hongbinnie-hyung, you don’t want to get into this. This is serious.”

Then he took off after the leader of VIXX. It didn’t take Hyuk long to find the other, considering he was weaker and unable to do much when he’d forgotten to take his pain medications. Hyuk knew, of course, when Hakyeon forgot to. He was so determined to survive this on his own, and being his personal medic was hard enough. If the other would just stop and accept the fact that his driver was killing him, maybe everything could go back to normal after that. Hakyeon would leave the fighting to Junhong and now Daehyun-hyung. Shouldn’t that be enough? Hakyeon didn’t need to fight anymore, he could just return to being the leader of VIXX. And forget about what he felt for Taekwoon, because it was killing Hakyeon. Emotional, and then the driver was killing him physically. Everyone at the K.R.P.L. saw that, and everyone but Hakyeon knew that something bad was going to happen if he continued. Whether he would die, or get hurt severely in battle. Something was going to happen, and Hyuk didn’t want to watch it when it did. Because N was his leader, his hyung, his idol. He hated watching the once bright, peppy, excited man slowly whittled down to nothing. The process was slow, but it was happening and there was nothing Hyuk could do to stop it. 

“Hyung,” Hyuk said before leaning against the wall of where the other was crouched down, low to the ground with his head in his hands and his whole frame shaking. Hakyeon didn’t even look up at him, instead he just kept his eyes focused on the pavement before him. 

“Leave me alone,” Hakyeon hissed with a kind of venom that usually stayed inside, where it didn’t hurt anyone. But Hakyeon was baring his fangs like a cornered animal.

“You… you need to quit,” Hyuk said but the other choked up, causing him to glare straight at the group’s maknae. “Not quit VIXX! I know how much you love to sing and dance and interact with the fans, but quit being a Kamen Rider. Both is good, but you can’t have both Hakyeon. You need to step away before you get killed. It’s killing you, if you keep going, you’ll never get to dance again. Or sing for that matter. If you don’t stop now, VIXX will no longer be an option for you.”

“I don’t care. No one cares if that happens,” Hakyeon answered bitterly. “He never did… he will never care, no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try.” And then Hakyeon started crying again, and it tore Sanghyuk’s heart. Because he didn’t deserve to be in this much pain, not after balancing everything so brilliantly for so long. Why couldn’t he just quit? What was holding him in place so strongly that made the idea of quitting at being a Kamen Rider so tough?

 

Deep down, Hakyeon knew Sanghyuk wouldn’t understand. Not yet, at least. Because Sanghyuk’s feelings were mutual, Hakyeon’s were not. Because Taekwoon was in love with someone else, and that made him so, so very angry. Because if Taekwoon was in danger, Hakyeon couldn’t quit. That was the legacy of a Kamen Rider, after all. Didn’t they all end up dead or broken on the inside to the point where nothing would ever be ok again? That was the fate that Hakyeon held in his hands. A special kind of driver, much like Ryou-san’s driver or Tachibana-san’s. Or even Mitsuki… that was the fate that Hakyeon wielded like a double bladed knife. Sanghyuk didn’t understand that, he didn’t know because he didn’t feel it. Not the way Hakyeon did every day. Everyday’s aches and pains, how he lived off of pain medications now because it hurt to much just to move. (He henshined earlier today so that’s probably why it still hurt so much). 

“Hakyeon, you’re going to be ok. You just have to tell Yongguk you quit, and he’ll let you go. He may even figure out how to remove the driver from you so you’ll never be bothered by it again. You can live again,” Sanghyuk whispered, and it sounded to good to be true. And deep down, Hakyeon knew it wasn’t true. This driver he had, it was going to kill him in the end and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Everyday, it whittled away at his mind… and Hakyeon was scared.

He was absolutely terrified. He didn’t want to die, and he didn’t want to die like he was going to. Most of all? He wanted Taekwoon to hold him for once, and tell him it was going to be ok. That he was there in the same way Hakyeon had always been. Unknowingly in love with his best friend. But even he knew what a lucid dream was. And Hakyeon didn’t chase those anymore. Just trying to breath and stay above the water was enough. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My wattpad and Ao3 chapters are off by one, so if you see something odd with the chapter line ups... tell me. Because something just don't feel right. Lolz. 
> 
> Recognize which Rider I copied Hakyeon's from?

Junhong was buzzing with energy right beside Daehyun, rubbing off on the other. But Daehyun had his own nervous ball of energy. Today Cha Hakyeon was going to teach him how to use and summon his driver. As soon as the bell rang, the two were out of their seats and practically running out the door. It just happened to be that only Daehyun, clumsy Daehyun, slammed straight into someone, sending them both sprawling to the ground. He held his nose, hoping for no blood to start dripping out. When he looked at the other person he’d collided into, hoping to apologize, he froze. Yoo Youngjae looked at him with hateful eyes, and it caused Daehyun to freeze right where he was. He hated that look. That wasn’t Youngjae, that wasn’t the Youngjae he knew. The one he’d fallen in love with always smiled, had chubby cheeks that Daehyun absolutely loved to pinch. His smile had always been contagious, and his eyes had always been so bright. Now they were dull and lifeless. Yoo Youngjae was absolutely beautiful, too bad it was wasted on a personality that apparently was different then what Daehyun had thought.

“W-watch where you’re going,” Youngjae hissed, pushing Daehyun away before getting up from the ground to take off in the opposite direction. When Youngjae rounded the corner, Daehyun sighed before awkwardly running a hand through his hair before getting up. It was like his heart was squeezed painfully once more...

“You ok? That guy is a jerk,” Junhong asked, brushing invisible dirt off of Daehyun’s back. It hurt Daehyun’s heart, because Junhong had never gotten to meet Youngjae. Well, the Youngjae Daehyun had loved. Before Junhong, Youngjae had been the bestest friend Daehyun had ever had. 

“Youngjae,” Daehyun whispered, his eyes trained on the area the other had disappeared to. He wished that their friendship would return, and maybe who knows? Now that Daehyun was worth something, Youngjae would return. And Daehyun would welcome him with open arms.

 

“I’m sorry, Dae…” Youngjae whispered, watching the other get up. He was sure Daehyun couldn’t see him, and he turned around and disappeared before his better half could make him return. Because God knows how much Youngjae wanted to have his best friend back, he missed that hungry dork. He had other places to be, errands to run… things to do that he didn’t want to do. “Save me.” He whispered before he ran out the door of the school, taking off in the vague direction of ‘home’.  

 

“Come on Daehyun, we’re going to be late. You know how Hakyeon gets when someone’s late,” Junhong stated before dragging the latter out the door.

They ended up outside Yongguk’s warehouse in the dead of the cold months. Daehyun shivered uncomfortably. They entered through the front, passing all the way through to the back. Junhong branched off into Yongguk’s lab and Daehyun opened the door into the training room. 

He was met with an amazing sight. Hakyeon was standing in front of a large room. Its floor was made of cold, grey concrete covered occasionally by large, red wrestling mats. In the far corner were boxing bags, arm exercise machines. Hakyeon himself didn’t look so good. He wearing baggy sweatpants, a v-neck t-shirt, and a black cap covering his red hair. He didn’t look happy. Daehun pretended to not notice his puffy, red eyes. 

“You’re late,” Hakyeon hissed bitterly, making Daehyun wince. Definitely not happy. He bowed and apologized, hoping Hakyeon would forgive him.

“Whatever,” N finally said before walking over to Daehyun to grab his arm and drag him across the room. “Today, you’re going to summon your driver and henshin. That way you’ll know what your armor looks like and give yourself a name. By tonight, I’ll take you out hunting for your first fight as a rider.” 

“Sounds like fun, Hakyeon-hyung,” Daehyun answered and the other graced him with a small smile. He was nervous, but fighting his first bad guy sounded like fun. He could become a superhero like superman or spiderman. It was exciting. 

“Anyway, every rider summons their driver differently. I summon mine by cupping my hands like an oval, which iI showed you. Gaim summons his by a lock seed from Helheim. Faiz uses a phone and a number sequence. You have to concentrate and find yours,” Hakyeon explained, causing Daehyun to nod. The latter sat down criss-cross apple sauce, Hakyeon joining him on the floor. He closed his eyes and tried to imagine the driver. After five minutes, nothing happened. 

“Focus Daehyun,” Hakyeon stated irritatedly. “Think of something happy, a memory you want to protect. Someone you love.”

Daehyun closed his eyes and tried imagining his mother and protecting her and her beautiful smile. He imagined seeing her walk beside him again, holding him in a motherly hug like she no longer could. The memory brought tears to his eyes, but it didn’t summon his driver. Suddenly Daehyun was forcibly thrown into a different memory. A warm hand around his, a fluttering feeling in his chest. they were standing in the line for the Pacific Rim premiere. Yoo Youngjae was wearing a large red beenie that shadowed his face, but his smile was genuine. Daehyun remembered the night so vividly, he’d been worried that he wouldn’t have enough money to hang out with Youngjae that night. But the other had somehow produced enough money to not only pay for him  _ and _ supper, but he’d also bought Daehyun’s. In his heart, it felt like a date. A perfect, perfect date. And even when Youngjae hated his guts, Daehyun still believed that maybe… just maybe it had been. At least once in his life. At the memory, he felt warmth stir in his gut before bright light exploded outwards and something vaguely solid pressed up and out of his skin before the light died away. And in its place was a belt looking object, the same one from  _ that _ night. Daehyun jumped back in surprise, awed at the majestic sight of a similar driver to Hakyeon’s, but he couldn’t stop the slight fearfulness that it had the same outcome as Hakyeon-hyung’s. 

“Now, you’re going to henshin with it, come on. Get up,” Hakyeon stated and Daehyun jumped up to his feet nervously. 

“How do you… henshin?” He asked, causing Cha Hakyeon to roll his eyes. 

“Find your groove. I’ll show you how its done,” Hakyeon answered, before stepping away from Daehyun. He summoned his driver to his waist, the light illuminating the whole room. He turned towards his side and threw his hands out in front of him before ‘dancing’ in a slow, graceful way. ( **A/N move from On & On) ** before his hand hit a level on his hip. “Henshin.” 

Suddenly an explosion shook the room and Hakyeon fell backwards a few steps. His face was contorted in pain as a second shell like shape rose up around him. Even from where Daehyun had retreated to, he felt the heat rolling off of the other man. His whole body slowly burnt into another, alien like form. And it looked like it hurt, a lot. And it happened in less than four seconds, which was too fast… even for someone in experienced as Daehyun. 

His helmet completely covered his head with huge, bug like red eyes set deep into a mixed orange, black, and red color. The mouth was fanged and Hakyeon opened it to show the deep cavern of his mouth, and Daehyun realized just how molded together he and the suit were. His neck, covered by dark red and orange armor as well, led to a slender chest. The parts that covered his torso were a beautiful mix of red, blue, black, and yellowish orange set over tight black spandex that went all the way down to his slender thighs and to his ankles. Past that, he had black heeled boots that fit his form almost perfectly. From far away, he looked like he was molten, the colors shifting against the light to look like he was on fire on the inside. And with a horrifying revelation, Daehyun realized Hakyeon  _ was _ burning up on the inside. The energy coming off of him were waves of radiation, like a sun. His arms were covered by similar colored guards with tiny little spikes trailing down his arms. Tucked underneath his arm was a long wicked, two sided blade that probably served as his main weapon. He was beautiful in the way Cha Hakyeon was beautiful. The latter ended up leaning against the far side of the wall, his chest rising rapidly in a way that probably wasn’t good. 

“Cha?” Daehyun asked and the other held up a one second gloved finger and Daehyun nodded. He was catching his breath, and a few minutes later, the other stood tall again.

“Sorry,” he said, his voice blended perfectly to sound like someone entirely different but at the same time, someone you knew. “I can only maintain this form for a little while. I’m going to break henshin, so you can do it next. Then we can go out and get into some trouble.” Then suddenly air fizzled out from around him, sucking in towards the suit until a vague human shape form started to materialize from within. For a brief second, Hakyeon was stuck in between both forms, but then he blew through them. “Your turn. Like I said, find your groove. The driver has already told you how to Henshin, its up to you to finish it.”

Daehyun nodded before closing his eyes. He unconsciously reached out towards the driver at his waist and it responded with enthusiasm, creating a pulling in his gut that Daehyun couldn’t describe. It burned its way through his core, putting images in his head of his family members in danger. Of Yoo Youngjae getting hurt, and strength surged through his limbs. He imagined his sequence and his hands followed right after, creating energy in the pit of his stomach that even he couldn’t stop. The pattern went to smoothly after that, “Henshin.” 

Instead of like Hakyeon’s change, though, his was much more smoother. And cool, like water gracing up over his back and through his entire being. Armor grew from his skin, but it didn’t hurt. It was almost relieving, like he was letting himself go. Letting himself fly. However, beneath that form, he felt the pull of two others. A red form and a black form trying to claw its way out from Daehyun. He looked down at his hands, now covered by black skin tight gloves with a blue shield attached to the back of his hands. It really was an extension of his body. His whole body was encased by a stronger exoskeleton. It was dark inside the helmet, bulky, but it wasn’t scary. The world was zoomed in to a hawk’s view, clearer than he’d ever seen. Daehyun felt unstoppable.

“Do you feel any pain? Any ache in your body, branching outwards from your driver?” Hakyeon asked quickly but Daehyun shook his head.

“No… I feel even more powerful… like i’m standing on the edge of something great, something… amazing,” Daehyun answered, making a fist with his hand.

“Then break henshin and come on, let’s get started on patrols. We’ll see how you fare now,” Hakyeon answered and Daehyun looked up at him. He was pretty sure he was smiling.

 

Hakyeon led him into the garage after that, walking up to a slender object covered by a tarp. He pulled it off to reveal a sleek, red bodied sports bike. It had Kamen Rider VIXX printed on the side in Japanese, the labeling tiny to be seen. On its seat sat a helmet with the same color, a Shoei helmet. The bike looked fast, and light weight, and in every way, it fit Hakyeon to the tee. And looking at the way the latter grinned at the revelation of the bike, he was damn proud of it. Hakyeon beckoned Daehyun over to a second bike, hidden in the corner by a couple of boxes. He scooted them over with his toe before pulling the tarp off of it. Daehyun was taken back by its simple, elegant beauty. It was similar to Hakyeon’s, the only difference being it was a two seater and black with B.A.P. imprinted on the side. He suddenly chose what he wanted his name to be, each different form having its own name. The blue, Best (B.), the red Absolute (A.), and the black being Perfect (P.). It fit perfectly. He wanted to be called Kamen Rider B.A.P. and that was final. Hakyeon surprised him by tossing him a helmet, in which Daehyun caught it swiftly. 

Then he walked over to his bike before throwing his leg over the side. He perched on the bike before pulling the helmet over his head. Hakyeon flipped the little cover up to look over at Daehyun with a huge ass grin.

“Every Kamen Rider has a bike, hope that wasn’t too obvious,” Hakyeon stated and Daehyun grinned back at him. Now this was the kind of stuff he could live with, even this kind of bike. He straddled his own bike before slipping his helmet on. Suddenly, a pair of gloves were thrown at his face, and Daehyun jumped back in a startle. He picked up the leather gloves before pulling them on, just like Cha Hakyeon. And then the older was starting up his bike, kicking up the stand, and then zooming out through the opening garage doors. Daehyun followed as fast as he could.

He’d actually never ridden a bike before, but he didn’t crash either. So that was a good day, hopefully they’d be able to get some food along the way because he was going to  _ die _ of hunger soon. Anyway, the bike was a little heavy on him, awkward too but it was no different then riding a bicycle. And somehow, deep down inside, the ability to ride a motor cycle was already there. Probably from the driver being completely connected to his body like it was. They were zooming through the city completely ignoring traffic laws, which surprised Daehyun. Not that he was doing it too, because he enjoyed it, but because Hakyeon didn’t even care. Then he realized why. Riding these kinds of bikes were amazing… they equaled the feeling of flying. And Hakyeon could probably go faster with how far bent over the front of the bike he was, creating the perfect wind funnel to propel him. Hey, Daehyun knew how to science. He wasn’t  _ that  _ stupid. Eventually, Daehyun noticed something blinking on the side of Hakyeon’s hip, causing the other to pull over to the side and park the bike. Daehyun thought it wise to do the same.

“There’s a monster around the area, so good news, your first fight as Kamen Rider…” Hakyeon trailed off, giving him time to insert a name.

“B.A.P. Kamen Rider B.A.P.” Daehyun answered.

Suddenly, screaming erupted down a walk street and a rush of people came at them. Hakyeon slid off the bike before hitting a button on the side and a gun popped up, its size as big as his arm. He pulled it to his side before rushing towards the scattering crowd. “Daehyun, come on! This is your chance!”

Daehyun rushed after him before standing right beside him. The adrenaline erupted through his chest and his entire body shook in excitement. The other man with him was evacuating them, throwing himself into the throng of panicking people and Daehyun waited. Soon, the thing appeared… and it wasn’t a criminal like he thought. It was a monster. A grey, shelled, black beady eyed monster with claws larger than his head.

“Shit,” Hakyeon cursed, surprising Daehyun. “It’s an Inves, that means there’s a crack nearby. Get in there, and fight it!”

Daehyun nodded quickly before shakily activating his driver. It sent a warm shoot of energy through him to calm him before Daehyun activated his henshin sequence. “Henshin!” He shouted before his second form exploded all around him, bringing itself close to his body before covering him. “I’ll show you my best, my absolute, and my perfect move.” Daehyun said, and the catch phrase fit. Then he ran at the creature. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... ya'll hear about the latest episode of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid. I'm still in denial. Nope. Nope. NOPE. NOPE. DAMN IT DAN I EVEN LIKED YOU ONCE BUT NOW YOU RUINED IT! #seeyoulaterlazer 
> 
> But yeah, late christmas present for ya'll.

The monster screamed as its beady eyes set on Daehyun, rushing at him just as fast as he was. It swung its claw out at him, and Daehyun was too slow to jump out of the way. It connected with him, slamming him back into a couple of trash cans, sending him toppling over. He pushed himself back to his feet when suddenly the monster was hit with a few gun shots, the sound ricocheting off of the buildings. Hakyeon stood a few feet away, the barrel of the gun raised at it as smoke trailed from the end. He grinned at Daehyun before the rider got his head back into the fight. He jumped into the air before somersaulting, gathering energy in his leg, leading to his foot before he kicked the monster hard in the chest. It hissed, falling onto its back before wiggling around like a bug. Daehyun brought his fist down into its gut once, twice before it swung its claw back out at him, colliding with him hard enough to send him flying backwards. Pain erupted in his lower back as he fell into a concrete block. Like, what kind of bad luck do you need to have to fall into a concrete block!? That’s not even supposed to be there!? He rolled to his feet before shakily getting to his feet. He launched all his armored body weight at the monster before pushing it back across the street. He slammed his fists into the creature, making it try to rip at his throat. 

“DO A FINAL HIT! RIDER KICK THAT PHAT HERMIT!” Hakyeon screamed and suddenly Daehyun felt and saw what he was supposed to do. He rebounded off the wall, shouting “Rider Kick!” Then he hit the monster right in the chest before falling back to his feet gracefully. The monster screamed before exploding in an arch of fire, the shock blowing past him. Daehyun equated the moment to be movie worthy and pretty bad ass. 

“Good job! Yongguk sent me a message, by the way. He wants us to head back. the city has gone silent, and he’s sending Sanghyuk and Jongup out to look for the crack that leads to Helheim,” Hakyeon stated before putting his gun away and getting back on the bike. Daehyun followed numbly, breaking his henshin. 

“So do…” Daehyun asked, locating his own bike and helmet.

“Yeah, Yongguk just lets riders fight the battles and he sends others out for clean up crew. I forgot to tell you, I think. But he’s the leader of the ‘crew’, and I’m the leader of the ‘riders’,” Hakyeon answered before kick starting his bike. 

“And the city being quiet, is that… normal?” Daehyun asked, because he hoped so. Although this battle had been easy, he worried that perhaps the next ones wouldn’t be so easy. Judging by the bruising on his arms, he guessed that they get more complicated as time went on. 

“No… it’s been quiet, too quiet. It’s kinda eerie, because Seoul is another hub for Kaijin… but… they’re not here anymore, and I don’t know if it has to deal with the big battle going down in Japan with Kumon Kaito and the newly made inves Kazuraba Kouta… but…” Hakyeon trailed off, looking up at the other rider respectfully. No longer like he was a lost trainee, which he kinda was. “It’s been over a year since my first battle, and i’m glad it’s quiet. Less people are getting hurt, less are getting killed. It’s just really scary because it’s not normal.”

“But silence only leads to an upcoming explosion. You realize that maybe… something bad is going to happen,” Daehyun answered, because it was obvious as day. And judging by the worried look that passed over Hakyeon’s face, he wasn’t the only one thinking that.

“But there’s no use in thinking of the future. The present is the best place to be, so, you hungry? I’ll treat,” Hakyeon said and Daehyun eagerly nodded. He was damn hungry.

 

When they returned to the headquarters, Daehyun found all of his stuff sitting outside one of the empty rooms in the first hallway. On it was a note that said  _ ‘We heard about you getting kicked out of your apartment again, so you can stay here. ^_^ - Junhonggie and Yonggukkie _ except Yongguk’s name looked like it’d been erased a bunch of times, attempted scribbled out, and even written over. Daehyun smiled as he opened the door to the room and let it swing wide open. 

The room wasn’t much, not that he was expecting it to be. It was quaint and small, and somehow Daehyun found that adorable. The bed was the largest thing in the room, a four poster one with just a sheet on it and a few pillows. Beside it was a small table with a little alarm clock plugged in, displaying the time. And it looked like someone had drug in a small desk, chair, and lamp for him. It was a deep brown oak colored, sitting against the wall messily, the corner sticking out at an angle. Probably to do homework on, not that Daehyun did his homework. He was pretty much falling Maths and Science… and possibly English. When Daehyun walked further into the room, turning around to get a good look at the place he noticed a small walk in closet with enough room to store his stuff, what little he had. Essentially the room was as big as a dorm room in college, not that Daehyun had ever wanted to go. In fact all the money he’d saved up was going to his mom so she could keep breathing, and stay alive. He went out and picked up one of the card board boxes before setting it on his bed. He pulled open the lid to sort through the contents, until he realized that this had been the box off stuff he refused to open. Memories he didn’t want to remember. One of them was an old baby blanket he’d had since he was a baby, back when his father was alive. He didn’t really remember the man well, but he heard he was a good one. That’s all that mattered. Another was his mother’s diamond necklace she gave him to hold onto in case he ever needed money to help. Daehyun had never sold it. He couldn’t. He dug out a few books he’d kept in there, some astronomy, Edger Allen Poe, and one of his old journals he hadn’t written in since he was 14. Underneath all of that was a framed picture he had wanted to crush underneath a car tire, or burn. Or shred. It was a picture of Youngjae and him sitting on a beach together, the setting sun casting their shadows long into the distance. Daehyun was leaning against Youngjae’s side, his head on his shoulder and the other’s arm was around Daehyun’s waist. His mom had taken the picture, of course, and she had been, probably, the biggest DaeJae shipper in the world. 

Don’t get Daehyun wrong. Sure life had been a little harder after everything went down, and sure he missed Youngjae’s friendship a lot. And he meant a lot, sometimes the ache was so physically real he had to stay home from school. The other person who’d ever been around him back then was Youngjae, but… he learned to live without him. To live through the abuse the other put him through. That’s what love did to people, Daehyun guessed. It broke you up into tiny little pieces. But Daehyun loved his life, nevertheless. He still had his mom, and now he had the chance to save lives and be a hero. It was awesome, in every retrospect at least. So life was tough, but it was beautiful. And if Daehyun would have given up life after Youngjae’s betrayal, he’d never have met the wonderful people here. And they were starting to feel like family, to Daehyun. So when he covered the photo back up, there were no tears, just a big grin as he imagined the power he had now. Maybe, someday, Youngjae would come around and he could show him this beautiful world too.

 

The familiar hum of the MRI machine lulled Hakyeon to sleep, which apparently, for him, was normal. He didn’t dream during the scan, he was always way too tired to dream anymore. So it felt like seconds later that Sanghyuk was shaking his leg to wake him up. Huddled around the computer which held Hakyeon’s head scans was Junhong, and Yongguk. They looked at each other in concern behind the glass as Sanghyuk helped Hakyeon to sit up. He winced as hot, searing pain arched up through his body causing it to go into a fitful shake. Everyone looked away, like Hakyeon had asked them too. The only person who could ever make Hakyeon’s fits feel better was Taekwoon. Afterwards, when Hakyeon’s shaking had subsided enough for him to stand, Sanghyuk helped him over to the chair beside the other two men in the room. 

“What’s the news, doc?” Hakyeon joked, forcing himself to lean back in the chair like it didn’t hurt. Like the pain didn’t sear through his body like it was trying to rip him apart.  _ Happy thoughts, happy thoughts. Think about Taekwoon’s rare smile, and the reason why it’s you and not him right now.  _ Hakyeon told himself and it numbed the pain a little bit.

“Do you even  _ realize  _ just how far your body is gone?” Yongguk asked as Hyuk pulled up a chair beside Hakyeon. The younger boy pulled up copies of Hakyeon’s MRI and body scans, shrinking the windows so they could sit right beside each other. The other pulled out a capped blue ball point pen before pointing at a spot on the ‘picture of his brain’. 

“You remember what this black shaded in part is?” Hyuk asked and Hakyeon nodded, of course he remembered it.

“That’s where the pressure has built up, forcing its way through my spinal cord to my limbs. I know, I know.”

“Compared to last week, with every henshin… it’s only going to continue to grow. Until it kills you,” Hyuk answered before sighing and running a hand through his hair. “But we all know that already, we knew that the first few times we put you through these routine check ups. We also know it’s in your Cerebellum, having taken up all of it, and a large chunk of your Occipital lobe. Now it’s spread to your midbrain, frontal lobe and this faint, hazy outline is where its spreading into your Pariental lobe. Now, we already knew of your seizures and that they’re getting worse, but… since it’s spreading further upwards in your brain… probably by the end of this month. You’ll… uh, you’ll lose motor control functions in your arms and legs, and you’ll be in a wheel chair for the rest of your life. No more dancing, singing, running.”

Hakyeon winced at that, but he’d already come to term with those facts. He knew he was gonna come out of this dead or horribly broken, but what choice did he have? He was the first Kamen Rider in Korea, he was the head way that was to lead other riders like Daehyun and Zelo to a brighter future. Obviously someone had to be sacrificed in order to do that, and it was better if it be him. The guy no one cares about, the guy no one loves, the guy who is so hopelessly in love with his best friend who in turns probably loves the younger man of the group, Ravi. Its ironic how things work out. And Hakyeon be damned if he were to let harm come to Taekwoon, he just… couldn’t. ‘I love you, Taekwoon’ were the the words that so desperately wanted to get spoken after all. So he accepted the burden without complaint. 

“Tell me something I don’t already know, Hyukkie,” N answered, rolling his eyes as Hyuk’s face scrunched up in irritation. “We’ve been facing that fact for a long time, it’s just the trade off for having this much power.”

“But that’s if you stop henshining now, Hakyeon. The cycle is irreversible, you’re going to end up that way no matter what. But if you keep henshinning, you’ll just… your body will die. Best case scenario, you end up just dying. Worst case scenario, your body falls into a deep coma and finishes killing your brain off. End game brain dead and a whole lot of unnecessary pain. But you can quit, we won’t stop you if you want to step out. And you don’t have to worry about who’ll protect the world, we can throw Junhong and Daehyun in,” Sanghyuk answered, quickly, looking back at the other rider in the room.

But Hakyeon followed his gaze, too. He saw how young and frightened the younger boy look and how stiff the older man beside him was. Cha was in his twenties, young, but also the oldest, competing with Yongguk of course. The others, they were still so young. They should be worrying about homework and studying, not a war of monsters that could care less if they killed you. Like hell, Hakyeon wouldn’t stop and hand the proverbial torch to Daehyun or Junhong. They were kids still, and Hakyeon was an adult. Sure Junhong and Daehyun had had to grow up and take care of their parents, and Junhong didn’t even have good parents anymore and he spent almost all of his time with Yongguk in the warehouse, and then he slept over in a spare room. In retrospect, they were children and it was not Hakyeon’s right to force a burden onto them.

“No. Riders fight until they die, like Chase, like Ryuki, and like countless other riders before them. Once the burden falls on you, it’s end game,” Hakyeon stated, before pushing himself out of the chair. Deep down, though Hakyeon was selfish. He wanted to live, and to grow old. But it wasn’t fair, life wasn’t fair like that. “Riders don’t give up because it’s  _ too hard _ ”

“You’re going to die, Hakyeon. Don’t you care about what it’ll do to us, to me, to your band? We’re your friends, you can’t do this to us,” Sanghyuk argued, but it was like talking to a brick wall. Hakyeon wouldn’t listen. Maybe it was nobility, or idiocracy. Who knew?

“Sanghyuk, it’s ultimately Hakyeon’s choice on what he wants to do,” Yongguk stated, shocking the three others in the room because he never offered his input on this stuff. “And I think I speak for Hakyeon that he’d rather die than be bound to a wheel chair, paralyzed for the rest of his life. And its his choice.”

“Thanks, Yongguk,” Hakyeon stated and the latter nodded before returning to his solemn self once more. 

Hyuk made a fist in his lap but he didn’t say anything after that, which made it easier on Hakyeon. He was already going to die, and he’d been scared at one point… but not anymore. No, not anymore, and he was sure this was how his fate was to play out. Ultimate game over, annihilation of Kamen Rider VIXX. 

“Anyway, then. I’m upping your pain medications to twice the amount, and I’ll also slip in some sleeping pills so you can sleep better. If you need a heavier dosage of any of that, I’ll get it through Yongnam. He steals all the medications we need, anyway. If you have a seizure, remember to, if you’re still able to, roll onto your side and let it go. There’s nothing we can do for a driver enforced seizure. No unnecessary henshinings, you’re taking a break from practices for awhile until your pain subsides from your henshin earlier today. Also, I’ll bring an oxygen tank to your room at home, and I want you on that for an hour and half when the rest of the team is out at practice. Hopefully, we’ll get you through the rest of this month, neutralize the threat, and then figure out how to save your life,” Hyuk ordered before getting up out of the chair and walking out. Yongguk nudged Junhong and they both followed after numbly. 

  
What Hakyeon didn’t know was on the way to the washroom, Daehyun had passed the open door of the medic wing and had paused to listen in. He knew the driver was causing problems, but killing Hakyeon? He couldn’t believe it… it was shocking. Suddenly it felt all too real, the monsters, the battle. And it all was starting to hang on Daehyun’s shoulders.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapters are still off AHHHH IT'S BOTHERING ME SO BAD RIGHT NOW! IMMA SCREAM
> 
> And now things start to progress from the boring mind numbing pain of boringness. Now Hakyeon is in tears and Daehyun's loved ones are being threatened. Plus is there more to the Banglo story then what we see? Only I may know yet. Mwhahaha.

Daehyun stumbled in from the training room, Junhong and Jongup coming towards him to help Daehyun in. The past week had been tough, and the city had come alive almost immediately. All in response to Daehyun’s kamen rider being introduced. It was weird, actually. The good thing was that Hakyeon had been to busy with group promotions to be able to go out and fight, so it’d just been Daehyun and a back up team consisting of…. you guessed it, Junhong. Not that he was any help, considering he was too busy on his phone texting Yongguk. Deep down, he really didn’t want Hakyeon out there anymore. The guy was dying, and he didn’t want to watch it happen. Not the way he was supposed to go, and it wasn’t fair. Because he knew Hakyeon thought of himself as the older one, the one the responsibility fell on if things went bad. But he was young, too. In his prime years, and he was spending it on letting a driver kill him. It wasn’t fair. 

At least Daehyun was learning to pull his weight finally, and he loved every second of it. Every time a monster threatened someone, he knew about it. And he was starting to think he felt it, deep down in his gut to. That was the power he’d been seeking for the longest time, but it still wasn’t enough. It wasn’t enough to save his mother. Daehyun had been willing to accept that she wasn’t going to make it before all this happened, but now he had the ability to save people’s lives, but his mother still suffered. This is what suffocating felt like. This is what pain felt like and he realized just how badly he wanted to do something. 

“Yongguk wants us to meet in the surveillance room for a meeting,” Junhong stated before helping Daehyun down the hall so he could plop down in the first available seat. Himchan came in after them, standing at the far side wall beside Jongup. The other reached up to fix the bandana holding back Jongup’s hair and he found himself laughing to himself. Junhong squatted down beside him before looking up as the far side door opened and Yongguk walked in, shuffling around a few papers in hand. He set them down on the table before pulling up his own chair.

Looking around, Daehyun realized how small their group was. At the moment, both Sanghyuk, their stand in medic, and Hakyeon, the other main rider, were missing from the picture. He forgot, Jaewhan was missing to, also part of VIXX. Which left just him, Junhong, the inseparable pair Jongup and Himchan, and then their brave leader of the crew. It was weird how they divided up the jobs, Hakyeon being the leader of the riders and Yongguk the leader of the crew. But, apparently, it kept stress off of both their shoulders and kept them from clashing head to head. Both were, in fact, leaders so that whole thing could happen. And Daehyun was glad it didn’t.

“Thanks guys for coming in here for me,” Yongguk said before he pulled his laptop, a ruby red covering case over a mac book pro, out of its bag and set it gently on the table. He opened the lid before fiddling with it for a few seconds. He turned around to the far marker board with various drawings on it, something that was being made to look like the city. He pulled down another, paper thin screen over the top of the first one. Then he turned something on, and a light projected onto it. Suddenly, he was looking at the back screen of Yongguk’s laptop, a smiling picture of him and Junhong and some guy that looked exactly like Yongguk in the background doing a peace sign. The man pulled up a window, leading to a video where he then full screened it. 

“Now, we got this earlier today while Daehyun was out neutralizing the threat, I think you guys are going to want to see this. It explains who our common enemy is, and he’s not a cool dude,” Yongguk stated before pressing play. 

The screen was fuzzy for a few seconds like someone was jostling it around. Then it focused on a man, a horrifying, ugly man. He was old, probably around 50 years with an ugly, scruffy beard the color of snow. His eyes were large and beady, but a deep red that absolutely terrified Daehyun.

“Kamen Riders,” the man laughed. “Normally I’d stay away because Kamen Riders have thwarted my plans multiple times, but your branch is no threat. What, a dying rider and an infant rider? Now… there’s something special about your new rider, Bang Yongguk… that driver he has, that’s ours. In fact, we want it back. So… you better hand it to us soon, or we’ll attack. Simple as that. And it won’t be you we attack, because you guys can hide in your little warehouse all you want and we can’t reach you, but your loved ones can’t. And we know where they are, and we’ll find them And we’ll kill each and every single one, unless you surrender and hand us what’s ours.”

The video went out after that, leaving Daehyun sitting there in shock. His mom was in danger… oh god… she was… he jumped out of his chair in panic. 

Hands tried holding him back but he pushed them away. He needed time alone to figure out what was going on and whether or not his own mother was in danger. But he couldn’t even move her, even if he tried. The headquarters had a mini-hospital, but they are under staffed and didn’t have the equipment to take care of someone as sick as his mother. She would have to stay at the hospital if she were to live. Daehyun ran to his room before slamming the door shut. Tears threatened to spill from his eyes, his heart raced, and his whole body shook. He had became a rider to protect people, they never told him actual… villains would show up. And instead of threatening Hakyeon, they directly threatened him. Daehyun had done nothing wrong! It wasn’t fair, why did everything bad happen to him? Daehyun was startled out of his thoughts when he heard a sniffle, and suddenly fear arched up through his body. He stood stock still, afraid to move because there was… there was someone else inside the room with him. And it was his room.

Daehyun immediately lunged for the lights on the side of the wall, illuminating the entire room in a soft glow. There was a figure sitting on his bed, knees pulled up to his chest and face buried into them. However, Daehyun recognized the bright red hair, and at that same time, Cha Hakyeon looked up at him. His eyes were red and puffy, tears glistening down his cheeks. His whole body was shaking from the force of crying, and Daehyun grew fearful. There was nothing in this world that could make Cha Hakyeon cry, and for the older to come to  _ him _ instead of someone his age? That was surprising.

“Hakyeon-hyung,” Daehyun whispered before making his way over to his friend. What in the world could make  _ the _ Cha Hakyeon cry? For the longest time, Daehyun thought nothing. Apparently he’d been wrong, because Hakyeon had been broke like a piece of glass, and the shards were in a mess all over the floor. The latter lunged at Daehyun fearfully before yanking at his clothes, and with a sinking horror, Daehyun realized what Hakyeon was asking for… 

He grabbed the other’s hands, stilling them with his before meeting the older’s eyes. “Hyung, we both know you don’t like me like that, and neither I to you. Please don’t try making a mistake. Tell me what happened, Hakyeon-hyung.” And the other burst out into even more tears, blotching his face and blurring his vision. Daehyun’s heart physically ached for his co-Kamen Rider. Someone had broke the unbreakable Cha Hakyeon.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then I accidentally broke Hakyeon's heart and I feel absolutely horrible about it. 
> 
> Plus... THE CHAPTERS ARE STILL OFF AND I'M STILL NOT OK WITH DAN AND KIRIYA CUZ YOU KNOW THAT HURT DAMN IT

It took Daehyun a long while to get Hakyeon settled down enough to talk. Plus every single box of tissues the latter owned in his room, or on his person and probably the world’s longest lasting hug, and even after all that… Hakyeon looked like shit. He looked fragile and ready to completely break at any time.

“Can you tell me what happened?” Daehyun asked, rubbing soothing circles into the older male’s back.

The other sniffled before a sob emitted from his throat once more in memory of what just happened.

 

Hakyeon ground his teeth slightly before breathing in deeply… he had to tell Daehyun. Tell someone… he had to. “Taekwoon… he…he” Hakyeon burst out crying once more, the endless torrent of tears making their appearance again. But he forced himself to explain. 

_ Hakyeon had just gotten home from doing some extra training for their upcoming Kratos comeback. He was tired and sweaty and the guys were all still out, so he’d disappeared to take a shower. When he came back, Jaewhan (Back from his duties in the kitchen) was sitting on the chair while Hongbin and Hyuk were cuddled up on the couch watching some random horror movie. As soon as Hakyeon had entered the room, however, Hyuk looked up at him with questioning eyes. And Hakyeon nodded, because he felt really well right then and there. There was no pain, no ache… he was stable and he was damn happy about it. Hakyeon had been so busy recently with the practices, his radio shows, the occasional drama shooting, and his Kamen Rider responsibilities it felt like he hadn’t hung out with the guys for forever. Even Hyuk made time to catch up, and make sure their coming and goings weren’t suspicious. However, the person Hakyeon wanted to see wasn’t in the room with the other guys, and Hakyeon had practically memorized his schedule. He had nothing planned for 5:30… so where was Taekwoon? He asked the guys and the others shrugged, stating he was probably in his room… (Ever since management moved them around, they no longer slept in the same room) ( _ **_A/N I actually don’t know what VIXX’s rooming assignments are, like I know B.A.P.’s but not VIXX. Whoops)._ ** _ Knowing Taekwoon, he was probably hungry so N smiled to himself before getting some ingredients out of the cupboard to make Taekwoon a bowl of soup. Despite it being one of the only things Hakyeon could cook, it was Taekwoon’s favorite. And who knows how long it’s been since Hakyeon could actually make it for him. _

_ He poured his creation into a small, little bowl before getting Taekwoon a spoon from the drawer. He carefully balanced the bowl in his hand as he walked down the hall until he came to a stop at Taekwoon’s door. He should have knocked, but Hakyeon never knocked when it came to Taekwoon. They were the best of friends, they literally shared everything. So, why knock? Hakyeon smiled to himself, ignoring the shoot of pain running through his spine. The thought of Taekwoon always numbed that pain, and he always made Hakyeon’s heart pump wildly in his chest. He pushed the door open, preparing his best, brightest smile for the other.  _

_ “Taekwoon-ah, I brought you some…” Hakyeon trailed off as the other jumped like a deer caught in the head light. And underneath him, who Taekwoon had been  _ **_kissing_ ** _ was Ravi. Ravi… and it felt all too much like painful betrayal. The bowl dropped from his hand before shattering against the floor on impact, much like Hakyeon’s heart. The pain rushed through his entire body, wave after wave that usually only Taekwoon’s simple presence could keep at bay. After all this time… Hakyeon had thought Taekwoon was actually his. He hadn’t been lying in the interviews, but now everything made sense. Wonshik and Taekwoon gravitating closer to each other while Taekwoon and his friendship was slowly losing its coherency. And it was like Taekwoon had just ripped Hakyeon’s heart out of chest and run it over with a lawn mower, tears welled up in his eyes before slipping down his cheek. _

_ “Taekwoonnie…” Hakyeon sobbed before turning on his heel and running away from that very room. Away from Taekwoon, away from everybody who he thought he could trust. Taekwoon… had been taken away from him, and it was all Hakyeon’s fault. He didn’t want to be a Kamen Rider anymore… he wanted to go back in time and stop…  _ **_that_ ** _ from happening. _

“I’m so sorry, hyung,” Daehyun whispered, squeezing Hakyeon into another tight hug. The other shook from another sob, and Daehyun realized… there was no putting Hakyeon back together now. The man had been close to the edge already, but that single event… is what tipped him over. 

“I love… Taekwoon,” Hakyeon cried. “And… he never loved me like that… what have I ever done wrong? I’m a fucking Kamen Rider… how is that not enough?” 

“I’m sorry Hakyeon,” Daehyun said, because what else was there to say? “I’m so sorry.”

“I’ve done  _ everything _ for  _ him _ … and now it’s all for nothing. I’m going to die soon, and he’s… he’s not going to care. I want him to care, why can’t he love me? What does Ravi have that I don’t?” Hakyeon sobbed, curling in on himself. Daehyun squeezed his eyes shut. His worst fear had been confirmed, Hakyeon was dying and his heart? Completely shattered.

“Let’s go stuff ourselves with as much cheese cake as we can handle,” Daehyun suggested and Hakyeon nodded before another pained sob erupted its way out of his chest.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Banglo and DaeJae in these chapters. Mwhahaha 
> 
> The chapters are still off. I am so bothered by it right now. :'(

“He calls himself the Hawk, and we’ve actually been dealing with him for a few years. Well, Yongnam had. He works directly under the Great Dai Shocker Leader, and works the underground. The driver Daehyun has did in fact belong to him at one point. How Daehyun found it, however, I have no clue. Unless Daehyun stole it… which I highly doubt. You can’t even steal cheesecake from the fridge quietly in the middle of the night. Who runs straight into a door that wasn’t even closed?” Yongguk stated, handing out a couple of sheets he printed off for the riders. Of course, Hakyeon wasn’t in. He was out doing patrols once more despite any of their protests. They all saw it, Hakyeon’s death spiral. It wouldn’t be long before Hakyeon would meet his end…

“So… I guess I’m his main target?” Daehyun asked and the older nodded before sinking in his chair, kicking it around a couple swirls. His coffee sat untouched in front of him, worrying Daehyun. Yongguk hadn’t been sleeping well the past few weeks, to engrossed in research and creating new weapons for the riders to use. He worried that eventually, even Junhong wouldn’t be able to get him to sleep. And everyone knew how important Junhong was to the older.

“I think that he’s our… main villain?” Jongup asked from where he was standing in the back. He’d just woken up, his school day starting an hour and a half after Daehyun’s. Daehyun was jealous of course, but even their brawler needed rest. 

“He is… he definitely is. In fact, from what I can gather, he’s the push behind the surge of kaiju we’ve been experiencing,” Yongguk answered. “Nevertheless, even with Hakyeon out again… I guess we just have to hope the latter can handle them. Until Daehyun and Junhong master their abilities to the peak performance we need to fight them off.”

“Daehyun, watch your back. I’ve been around the Hawk long enough to know that he’ll strike when you least expect it. We had Yongnam set up some guards with your mother, just in case,” Himchan stated and Daehyun looked to the older, black haired male. He already knew to watch his back, so that was good. And he was glad Yongguk’s twin was willing to step up and help him out, as well.

“But forget about it for today, ok? These problems are night time deals. Himchan and I will go out for information today while you kids are at school,” Yongguk replied before getting up to usher the youngest of the Seoul branch out the door. Junhong stayed back, however, to talk with the elder member worriedly. So Daehyun waited at the door awkwardly. He didn’t really know where to look without feeling like he was intruding on the two. Maybe he was worried? Ok, he was actually terrified. Cha Hakyeon, the main defense of the group, was missing in action and Daehyun hadn’t really seen much of him since that night when the older’s whole life fell apart. He’d either be at the dorm with his band mates or fighting, there was no in-between. And it worried him, because if something bad did happen… they needed Hakyeon to be in his right state of mind.  _ What Daehyun didn’t know at the time was that Hakyeon hadn’t returned to the dorm for a long while. _

It didn’t help that Daehyun felt strangely odd. Everyday, he felt a little sick to the stomach… but today was different. Everything was eerie and he was worried that perhaps, something bad was going to happen today. Daehyun shook his head, it had to be his imagination. Of course. This Kamen Rider stuff couldn’t be this serious, and the end of the world that Yongguk talked about couldn’t happen. Could it? The end of the world was awfully hard to imagine, and a single evil man couldn’t bring it about. Right? He’d become a Kamen Rider to protect people, but how was he supposed to know that things got _serious_. He wished… perhaps, he wasn’t one anymore. But then he scoffed at himself, here he was wanting to quit when people like Junhong or Cha Hakyeon _couldn’t_. This was their end game, and Daehyun couldn’t let himself be a coward. His mother didn’t raise a coward. 

When Daehyun looked back at Junhong and Yongguk, he felt a blush rise in his cheeks. Junhong was an energetic, jumpy teenager. He’d never seen the other act so tender to someone. It felt like an intimate moment, so Daehyun turned away. He’d wait for Junhong outside. 

 

“You know something,” Junhong whispered, gently brushing the hair out of Yongguk’s eyes, and brought the pad of his fingers over Yongguk’s dark circles. “You’re having your nightmares again, aren’t you?” They were standing at the front of the warehouse, close to the doors. 

Yongguk looked at him with saddened eyes, the burden he carried safely tucked away. “Don’t worry about it, ok? Go and have a good day. Himchan and I think that it might be the last for awhile,” Yongguk said firmly, he noticed how Junhong tensed at the mention of Himchan. It was common knowledge Junhong and Himchan had a tense relationship with each other, but he didn’t know why. The two were the closest people to him in his life… ugh, their drama was too confusing. Junhong always got mad when Yongguk was alone with Himchan, and it pissed Yongguk off to. Junhong didn’t need to be with him 24/7 did he? “Just be safe, today just doesn’t feel right.”

Of course Junhong would be safe, and if he couldn’t protect himself, one-shot, his driver, would. He was more worried about the eldest. “Do you want me to stay the night with you tonight? You need to sleep more,” It was unspoken, but Yongguk needed Junhong’s presence during the night. The only person able to help him sleep better was Junhong, because apparently being in Junhong’s arms was enough. All it took was one night, one accident, and then neither could sleep without each other near. It was hard to explain, the best way was Junhong’s driver aching for its creator. Or something like that, he didn’t really know. To be honest, though, Junhong slept better knowing that Yongguk was safe,  _ and his _ . He hoped that was the case, after all, Yongguk’s nightmares were of Junhong getting hurt. He’d put the pieces together after getting texts or calls in the middle of the night, Yongguk’s deep voice being frantic as he asked if Junhong was ok and unhurt. Every now and then, Junhong would spend the night with Yongguk to help him sleep better. He didn’t have caring parents to go home to anyway, so they didn’t notice him missing. Of course he got an earful every time he came home about running around with an older man. Yeah, whatever, his parents were idiots. They didn’t understand true love. And it wasn’t like he was going to get pregnant or something. It was unfortunate, though, that Junhong hadn’t been able to spend the night for a few weeks and he missed it, a lot. He missed waking up early in the morning with Yongguk’s whole body being relaxed right beside him, head on his chest. He missed running his hand through the other’s soft hair. Yongguk was radiant during then, and he’d always give Zelo his biggest, gummiest smile he had. And that smile, that  _ life _ , and those beautiful, intelligent eyes made Junhong’s chest hurt.

They both ignored it of course, but their friendship wasn’t normal. It started normal, though, and Junhong didn’t know where it blended into something else. It evolved. He’d just been a doe eyed teenager in awe of a potential fearless leader. But then they got to know each other and Junhong realized that Yongguk was a deep voiced, huge dork. Then somewhere along the way, something changed. At that very start, Junhong realized he  _ wanted _ Yongguk. He wanted to claim the older, make him his permanently. Whether it was his feelings, or his driver being intimate, he didn’t really care. Nevertheless, he knew his feelings were returned. Yongguk wanted him just as much, if not more. 

That’s how Junhong found himself leaning into the other, both equal height, hand on his cheek. They were so close that Junhong could feel Yongguk’s breath on his skin. His eyes glanced down to the older’s lips. He wetted his in anticipation.  His heart thudded in his chest, his legs shook, and his face heated up to the point it could rival the Pompeii disaster. 

Then Yongguk shook his head before pushing Junhong away slightly. The rejection hurt, but Junong had been prepared for it. He’d expected it. 

“I can’t Junnie, you know that,” Yongguk said, his voice barely a whisper. 

“Because I’m younger than you and I don’t know what I want, right?” Junhong hissed, because he was fucking tired of it. Yongguk-hyung was important to him, why couldn’t he just man up and take what was his? Junhong was willing! 

“Junhong… I just can’t. I can’t,” Yongguk sighed before turning away and disappearing. 

Junhong was pissed. His heart felt like it was breaking into a million pieces. 

“Yongguk-hyung is being stupid!” Zelo sighed as he pressed his face into the lunch table. Daehyun awkwardly patted his back.

“Hopefully he comes to his senses, Junnie. I don’t like seeing you sad.”

Junhong mumbled something into the table, but Daehyun couldn’t hear it. “What did you say?”

Zero looked up at him, tears brimming in his eyes. “I know he won’t, he never will. He’s stubborn like that, once his mind gets set on something… it doesn’t change. Maybe I was wrong, maybe he doesn’t love me back. Hyung, why must it hurt so much?”

_ I know how you feel, Junhong-ah. I loved someone too, but he betrayed and back stabbed me so bad ands yet I still love him to this day.  _

_ “ _ But I love him so much, still. Even after all that, I still love him. It’s not fair, why can’t he just take what’s his already? If he cares so much about me, then why am I in this pain?” Junhong sighed before burying his head in his arms once more.

“I’m sorry Junhong,” Daehyun replied as the lunch bell rang. He got up from his seat, and after a brief exchange of words, the two went their separate ways down the halls.

 

Even in his short time there, Daehyun got the feeling that Junhong was right. He knew how in love with each other those two were, and he knew that both of them knew it. But Yongguk probably wouldn’t make the first move, and if Junhong tried initiating anything, Yongguk would shut him down. He was right, though. Or his reason was at least. Junhong  _ was _ too young. But he was also a Kamen Rider, and so that made a difference. Ugh, it was so frustrating! Plus the situation with Hakyeon right now was absolutely scary. The man was running himself into the ground all because of a certain love interest named Taekwoon. It wasn’t fair! Even when Daehyun moved into one of the extra rooms, Hakyeon still didn’t calm down. Sanghyuk was trying to stop him, Yongguk was trying to stop him…. but no one was getting through. Daehyun was in half a mind to get Taekwoon, but the Ravi guy might end up showing up to… which would only make Hakyeon’s situation worse. It was a no win either way.

Suddenly something slammed into Daehyun, sending both toppling to the floor. Or it was a someone, who was lying heavily on top of him. Two seconds later, Daehyun’s heart tried bursting out of his chest.  _ Youngjae _ . Immediately the other got up before offering his hand to Daehyun. It was in moments like this, when they were both out of public’s eye that Youngjae was human towards him again. Daehyun took his hand gratefully, reveling in the warmth he felt. Daehyun brushed himself off before fully looking at Youngjae’s beautiful, beautiful, chubby face. A fact he’d fallen in love with first, long before he got to meet his personality. Youngjae’s eyes widened when he realized who he’d run into. And when he tried to make a run for it, Daehyun grabbed his coat sleeve. The result being the dark hood he had over his face sliding down, revealing a mess of bruises and cuts. 

“Youngjae…” Daehyun whispered in horror, his hand gently caressing the other’s face before he could stop himself. “Who did this to you?” The last part was said between grit teeth.

“W-why would you care? After all I’ve done to you, don’t act like you care,” Youngjae hissed before yanking his arm away from the older teenager. “You shouldn’t care anymore!”

“But I do, damn it. I’m the only one who notices that you haven’t been in school recently!” Daehyun answered. “What’s going on, why are you so badly hurt?”

It looked like Youngjae was about to cry, his hand absentmindedly reaching out towards Daehyun. As if the things Youngjae had done could be so easily forgiven. Forgotten, yes, but never forgiven. That didn’t stop Daehyun from not hating him, or hoping he’d die. No matter what the jerk did to him, Daehyun would always love him.

“It’s not like you don’t come to school bruised and beaten up to,” Youngjae replied bitterly, his eyes finally, finally meeting Daehyun’s. “You moved out of your apartment and disappeared off the radar. I worried whenever there was a monster attack and no one had heard from you.”

“You w-worried about me?” Daehyun stuttered, his eyes widening. Did Youngjae… did he still care about Daehyun? Before Daehyun could answer, though, the tardy bell rang through the hall. Daehyun mentally cursed his timing, because he’d finally had a chance to talk to the other. He’d finally started breaking through whatever barrier Youngjae had put up that day before their friendship fell apart and Youngjae backstabbed him. 

“I’m sorry Daehyun,” Youngjae whispered before disappearing down the hall. Daehyun stopped himself from chasing after the other, however. And he didn’t see the other for the rest of the day either. And that made him sick to his stomach. It hurt like a son of a bitch. He’d been handed Youngjae for just a few seconds before having him ripped away. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I had to disappear for a bit. Had to go take care of horses, and got a few videos of them too. I love them so much! ^_^ You know what was funny!? I got stuck in the mud and I was lucky Josie came over to give me a hand lol!!! Plus I had to fish for a huge chunk of Ice and it was so hard to lift! It was like 30 degrees out and I had to take my gloves off and fish. So yeah... plus I finally found the place where I'm going to lay Tough to rest after all these years. It's a place I know he'll like and this spring I'll dig him a beautiful grave... and maybe finally we both can be at peace. Who knows? And now that I've rambled, let's move on.
> 
> W SHOWS UP GUYS AND I'M THINKING ABOUT PUTTING THEM IN ANOTHER CHAPTER OR SEQUEL BECAUSE I FREAKING LOVE W. PLUS DAEJAE REUNITES!

“Yongguk!” Hakyeon shouted as he burst through the door, his arms full of papers he’d managed to steal. He found the leader easily in the living room clustered around a small table with a familiar Kamen Rider from Japan. Or Kamen Riders, or Kamen Rider, with this one, he didn’t know.

“What’s going on?” Yongguk stated, looking up from the screen Kamen Rider W had handed him. The fedora wearing man looked up at the other rider in shock as well. 

“Seoul is in danger,” Hakyeon exclaimed, tossing the papers onto the desk. “I just got another email from Mr.X with detailed pictures of a crack opening in the city.”

“Don’t those happen all the time, though?” Hidari Shotaro asked and Yongguk nodded alongside him. “With the stuff going down in Zawame, even Philip and I have had to fight some off.”

“Normally. We can text Daehyun and have him take care of it.”

“No, no that won’t work. It’s too big! It split open three city  _ blocks _ , the monsters are coming in to plague the city in numbers I’ve never seen them in before. And leading them… it’s him!” Hakyeon cried out, his whole body trembling in fear.

“What!?” Yongguk said before grabbing the files Hakyeon had set on the table. He rifled through them quickly before setting them back down and closed his eyes. Hakyeon could practically see the gears turning in his head. Shotaro’s partner stood up from the chair he’d been sitting and reading in. Hakyeon hadn’t even seen him there, but he guessed he should’ve. After what happened to Philip, Shotaro liked to keep his eye on the other man who shared his brain and body.

“Do you guys need our help?” Shotaro offered and his partner scoffed at him, calling him half-boiled under his breath.

“No, we’ll handle it Shotaro-hyung-san,” Yongguk stated and the other two nodded. “You guys are really busy chasing down the rest of Foundation X, don’t worry. We’ll call if we need your help.”

“Then we might as well head out, be safe, Philip let’s go,” Shotaro replied before pulling his partner out the door. 

Yongguk took a deep breath before he walked out of the room to start gathering everyone. 

 

The bell rang, signaling the end of school. Immediately Junhong appeared at Daehyun’s door as the elder started packing up. His eyes glanced over to the empty seat that was Youngjae’s. The younger had run out off the room at the bell. 

“You ready to go? Yongguk texted me to hurry back,” Junhong stated and Daehyun nodded. 

“I’m going to take a short detour.”

“What, why?” Junhong exclaimed, pulling Daehyun around. “Is it that Youngjae kid?”

“Y-you wouldn’t understand Junhong. He used to be my best friend. I loved him.”

“He backstabbed you!”

“He wouldn’t have done it willingly. I know him. There was something fishy going on. I won’t be long, I’ll meet you back home, ok?”

Junhong huffed. “Fine, just be careful. If he hurts you, I’ll kill him.” Then Junhong was on his way home.

 

Daehyun was glad he still remembered where Youngjae lived. They’d never moved, and he was glad. Before his mom got sick, their houses had been beside each other. Daehyun shook his head, he shouldn’t be thinking like that. Youngjae’s house wasn’t that hard to find. His mom had left his dad, so Youngjae lived with the man. The house was a little more run down and a little more colder. It gave off the vibe that Daehyun didn’t want to be there to feel. Daehyun made his way up the door before hesitantly lifting his hand up to knock. 

It was a few moments before the door opened, revealing a surprised Youngjae. “What are you doing here?” He whispered harshly, grabbing Daehyun’s arm and drug him in. Instead of wearing his uniform, Youngjae was wearing a baggy pair of grey sweatpants, a thin white t-shirt and no socks. He was radiant even now. When Daehyun was able to look around the house finally,he found it wasn’t a pretty sight. The house was filthy and reeked of alcohol. Probably from the hundreds of beer cans and bottles littering the floor. Daehyun’s heart sank, this wasn’t what it was supposed to be like.

“My dad’s asleep, so let’s go to my room,” Youngjae whispered before leading the other down into the basement.

Youngjae’s room hadn’t changed much since the last time he’d been there. That was years ago before Youngjae backstabbed him. The younger sat at his desk quietly thinking. “Why are you here?” It sounded defensive almost and Daehyun sighed. Why was he worried? He should have just ignored the other to save himself from the heart ache.

“I’m just… worried,” Daehyun answered. “You… came to school all bruised and hurt. Is it your…?” He couldn’t even say his fear. Youngjae’s father had always been good.

“NO! No… um, I guess… you know about Kamen Riders? Well… they exist in real life, and I’ve been passing them information about the monsters they hunt… and I called myself Mr. X. They’re actual heroes, and I’ve seen them in action. I wish I could meet one in real life. I got into a fight with one of the monsters and got hurt.”

_ Youngjae _ , Daehyun thought,  _ you just met one. _ He was glad, though, that Youngjae didn’t know any of the riders’ identities. He’d rather not have Youngjae getting involved more than he was. Especially with the threat hanging around him. Because if that terrible man knew just how much Daehyun loved Youngjae, then he could end Daehyun’s life as a Kamen Rider. And Daehyun couldn’t lose that. 

“Oh… well, be safe from the monsters ok? I worry about you. I hear those monsters are really dangerous,” Daehyun stated and the younger nodded.

“I will be.”

They fell into an awkward silence after that. Daehyun made his way over to Youngjae’s bed before sitting down. Youngjae got up to sit beside Daehyun on the bed. The elder sighed before leaning back slightly.

“Do you hate me?” Daehyun asked after awhile, his eyes didn’t meet Youngjae’s. 

“I don’t hate you,” Youngjae whispered. “I never hated you.”

“You didn’t? I admitted I was in love with you, and I was gay and you… told the whole school. People don’t do that unless they hate you,” Daehyun replied, tears forming in his eyes. To this day, it still hurt really bad. The worst pain. 

Youngjae opened his mouth but he didn’t say anything. It hurt Daehyun’s heart, he knew Youngjae hated him. Deep down, he’d always known it but he’d never accepted it. He should have. Suddenly, however, Youngjae surged forward pressing their lips together in a short sweet kiss before pulling back just as fast. Daehyun was shocked, the feeling of Youngjae’s lips still present to him. Warm and inviting, and Daehyun loved that feeling. But it confused him even worse.

“It’s not that I ever hated you, Daehyun,” Youngjae whispered, pressing his forehead to Daehyun’s. “I could never hurt you. But I fell in love with you, and I knew you liked me back. But my dad… he found out about it, somehow. I don’t know. And he threatened he’d hurt you unless I hurt you, and the way he was talking… it would have been really bad. I did what I thought I had to do.”

“You should have told me… we could have figured it out together. Do you know how much it hurt to see you so… stable?” Daehyun sighed softly. “I didn’t know how to even live knowing you hated me. Or I thought you did. There were days I felt like I couldn’t even breath. Please, don’t ever do that again.” 

“I won’t… I still need you. I was never away from you, either. You just never saw me trailing you,” Youngjae answered, bringing his hand up to caress Daehyun’s cheek gently. “Can I… can I kiss you again?”

Daehyun nodded weakly before pressing their lips together once more. The younger sighed into Daehyun’s mouth before licking his bottom lip for entrance. The latter responded immediately, opening his mouth for Youngjae to press his tongue in. They met in a fiery battle of dominance, a soft moan escaping from Daehyun’s mouth. And Youngjae loved every second of it. The older pressed him down into the mattress before crawling a top of him, fitting perfectly in-between Youngjae’s spread legs. His hands found their way too Daehyun’s back, sliding upwards to grasp his hair tightly. He shivered at the feeling of Daehyun’s strong shoulder blades. The other growled softly before trying to deepen the kiss more, his hands sliding down Youngjae’s sides before slipping underneath his shirt. Cold fingertips spread over Youngjae’s stomach sinfully, pulling a moan out of him.

Suddenly, Youngjae’s door opened up and the two froze. Youngjae immediately knew who it was, and his whole body started to shake. 

“Youngjae,” his father all but growled, and then the other was throwing Daehyun off of him and onto the floor. 

“I-it’s not what you think!” Youngjae pleaded. His father would take it out on Daehyun, and he couldn’t watch that. After all, his father was willing to murder the younger boy. He didn’t care if he hurt the latter’s feelings, he never did. As long as he could protect the other’s life, it was all worth it. 

“I thought I told you to keep that  _ thing _ away from this house! And now you’re kissing it like you’re a fucking faggot to! I thought I raised you better than that!” His father screamed before he ripped Youngjae away angrily to slam him against the wall by his neck. The older pulled him off his feet before driving his fist into Youngjae’s stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of him. Then Youngjae was dropped to the ground and his father kicked him over and over again. Blood started pooling in his mouth, and Youngjae felt weak. Suddenly, however, the man was drug off of him.

Daehyun jumped in between them, and Youngjae tried to weakly push him away. He’d done so much already to protect the one he loved from his father, he couldn’t let this happen. 

“Leave him alone,” Daehyun all but growled, and it scared even Youngjae. He’d never heard Daehyun’s voice get so low and demonic like and for a second Youngjae feared for his own father. The man who’d done such horrible, horrible things to him. The man, as drunk as he was, took a step forward towards Youngjae and Daehyun snapped out at him like a wild dog. “You come any closer and I’ll rip you apart.”

“My god, your eyes,” his father gasped, falling backwards onto his ass. “What the fuck are you?”

“Your worst nightmare. If I ever  _ hear _ about you hurting Youngjae again, I’ll kill you. I swear I will!” Daehyun hissed as Youngjae grabbed his ankle to stop him. He’d never seen this rage before, and from the looks of it, neither had Daehyun. “Get out!”

Youngjae was surprised to see his father leave in a hurry, slamming the door behind him. Daehyun stayed poised for a couple more seconds before returning to his self. He kneeled by Youngjae’s side and helped him sit up, wiping the blood off of the younger’s chin with his shirt sleeve. 

“I’m gonna get you out of here,” Daehyun said but Youngjae shook his head weakly. 

“He’ll always find me. Just go, Daehyun. He’ll hurt you worse when he comes back,” Youngjae said, pushing the elder away. How cruel to finally make it up to Daehyun and have him ripped away once again. 

“I know a safe place, your father will never find you there. And the guys will protect you, like they did for me,” Youngjae eventually nodded and Daehyun helped him up. The elder quickly packed a few of Youngjae’s things before slinging the bag onto his back.

He helped Youngjae walk up the stairs towards the door. His father was nowhere to be seen, probably stewing in his own anger of having been beaten by a teenager. Youngjae didn’t want to think about it. What worried him was Daehyun’s behavior, his mood swings. Daehyun had never acted like that before, like some overprotective dog. Sure he’d helped defend Youngjae sometimes, back then… but not like that. Goes to show just what time can change. He no longer knew his best friend like he should have. And as Youngjae looked back at his house, he got the feeling ti’d be the last time he ever lived there too


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot happened in this chapter. Banglo fell apart, Junhong fell apart and ugh. So much. Sorry, I made Junhong cut... though... cuz... I was having a really bad withdrawal when I wrote that part...so I guessed... what the hell right? So I hope you enjoyed it... or liked the chapter at least. *hides*

They made slow, but steady progress away from Youngjae’s house, and they hadn’t said a single thing sense. Youngjae was glad, he didn’t know what to say honestly. So many years they had to catch up on.

“Where is everybody?” Daehyun whispered, coming to stop in an intersection. The only problem was, the intersection was normally busy 24/7. Now there was absolutely no one in sight. Daehyun reached down to his pockets before cursing under his breath. Something wasn’t right, and Youngjae could tell.

 

Without his phone, which was conveniently left in his locker at school, he had no way of contacting Yongguk. Something just didn’t feel right. Something was watching them, surrounding them completely… and he had a good guess of what it was. As soon as he took a step, hundreds of cracks opened around him, Kaiju pouring in from every stop. He felt the younger grow stiff in his arms.

“Daehyun, those are the monsters I chase after!” Youngjae exclaimed, pulling Daehyun backwards in an attempt to weakly protect him. 

“Ah, we’re monsters now aren’t we? Yet these were the natives of their own world!” It was him, The Hawk. The one who wanted Daehyun’s driver for his own. He’d been almost non-existent for the longest time, silent even. But now he’d shown up, right in Daehyun’s face and Daehyun was terribly afraid. “I see you’ve finally gotten what you wanted, your precious loved one.” Then it all made sense. The Hawk wouldn’t target his mom, no, he’d target the one that brought out the animalistic rage in Daehyun. Youngjae. He pushed the latter behind him in hopes he could protect him, but they were surrounded. That’d do him no good.

“Aw, look at you. So protective over him, yet he ripped your heart out didn’t he? He made your state of mind weak, to let the power overflow it. You fear for Hakyeon? You should fear yourself, buddy, because of what that creature did to you,” The Hawk laughed. “Now I’d love to stay in chat, but I want all my ducks in a row. Just wait, I’ll come for your precious little Youngjae. And that belt will be mine.” The monsters started disappearing from where they came from and Daehyun sat their in shock as the Hawk disappeared behind them, sealing the breach. That wasn’t a good sign. 

“Youngjae, let’s go,” Daehyun breathed before yanking the other quickly behind him. He didn’t know what was happening, and without his phone, there was no calling for backup. He didn’t trust himself to be able to hold a fight against Inves and still protect Youngjae from them at the same time. That seemed almost impossible. But he had to try, right? If the time came for it, he’d have to fight.

 

Turns out he didn’t have to. There were no one on the streets, the wind howled through the empty buildings. It almost felt like an apocalypse had happened and everyone had died. It was odd, and he didn’t like it a single bit. He was more than relieved when he made it to the warehouse, knowing safety lied within.

“Wait. Daehyun, wait!” Youngjae exclaimed, making the other stop in his tracks. “This is the Seoul Branch of Kamen Riders. The Kamen Rider Justice League!” Oh yeah, Daehyun forgot that Daehyun was that one informant Yongguk always talked about. It still kinda shocked him, but he knew the work looked familiar to him. So he guessed, what the heck? 

“Yeah, yeah. I know. This is where I live now,” Daehyun answered before opening the door and drug Youngjae in. He took him into the back half of the warehouse before slamming head first into the eldest rider, Cha Hakyeon. “Oi! Where are you going?” 

“I’m going to get VIXX. I’ll be back soon,” then Hakyeon was gone.  

“Cha Hakyeon!” He heard Sanghyuk scream before chasing after the other man, hot on his tail. Something told Daehyun, though, that Sanghyuk wouldn’t catch up to the other. It was this blinded faith that was the reason why Hakyeon was dying the way he was. 

“Should I ask?”

“No don’t. Cha Hakyeon works on his own level, he’s a different kind of guy.”  Daehyun found everyone in the living room, silent. Jongup and Himchan were sharing the love seat, Yongguk sat in the arm chair with Junhong perched on the arm rest. Ken was leaning against the counter, he himself quiet when he normally wasn’t. It took him a few seconds to realize the TV was on, and when he looked, he felt despair. The headline read ‘Seoul South Korea Under Attack By Shelled Monsters’. There was a death toll count already. 21 people have already died. His stomach felt sick, was his mom ok? He prayed she was.

“I-I thought the Inves problem was solved by Kouta?”

Yongguk shook his head before getting up.  “Yes, Kouta has left this Earth finally leaving behind his best friend, who’d perished in the fight by his own hand. But he left behind one OverLord. One very, very strong OverLord. And without Kouta here, he has complete control over Helheim. He drug it back to Earth, parts of it and Kouta is too busy to notice. And now the Hawk is finally making his move.””

“Then why are we just sitting here? People are dying out there! Kamen Riders help people, not let them die!” 

“Daehyun, what choice do we have? It’s almost dark, Hakyeon’s somewhere out there, and you and Junhong don’t have the experience. I made the call to wait, and I asked for help from the Japanese branch. And that fell through. We’re on our own,” Yongguk said before plopping back down in his chair. Immediately Junhong was at his side again, fussing over him like a mother hen. Yongguk weakly pushed him away and he saw the hurt flash in Junhong’s eyes.

“By the way, who is that?” Himchan asked, leaning back in his chair, casually putting his arm around Jongup’s shoulder, and pointing at Youngjae with his other hand. 

“That is my best friend, Youngjae,” Daehyun introduced. “Um… that guy is Yongguk-hyung, that’s Junhong which you already met once or twice before, that weird guy over there is Jongup, and the other dude is Himchan-hyung. That dude by the wall is Ken.”

“Hi…” Youngjae said awkwardly.

“I was wondering if he could stay here… and help? He kinda can’t go home, family problems.”

Yongguk glanced at Junhong briefly before nodding. “Yeah, sure. There’s plenty of room. Junhong show him to an empty room. Supper will be served soon, everyone get some sleep. We’re going to need it for tomorrow.”

Junhong grumbled a few words under his breath before leading the two out of the room. Himchan whispered to Jongup, and the latter got up and went after them with Jaehwan in tow. Himchan got up before standing above Yongguk. Yongguk didn’t meet his eyes though, and Himchan knew why. They’d been best friends for years, and Himchan knew Yongguk like the back of his hand. And he knew when Yongguk was being a douche.

“So what’s up?” Himchan asked, pushing Yongguk back in his chair with a hand to his chest. Yongguk’s eyes flickered up to him for a brief second before returning to the floor. Himchan was pretty sure the carpet wasn’t that interesting. Dumb little diamonds in the print.  

“Nothing,” Yongguk grumbled before pushing Himchan back to rise from his chair. 

“Uh huh, did you and Junhong fight again?” Himchan asked. “Because you’re being a total dick to him again.”

“It’s not like that,” Yongguk growled, trying to escape from the younger. However, Himchan stopped him by hanging off his shoulder. His added body weight stopped Yongguk from making it anywhere worthwhile. But Yongguk didn’t stop trying to run, however. 

“You know he loves you right? Yongguk?” Himchan stated and the other slumped in his embrace. “I know.” Yongguk sighed before turning to face the other. “I know that.” 

“He’d do anything for you. He’d die for you, and you keep throwing him away like he’s a bag of trash. And it’s not because he’s a guy, it’s because you’re afraid still. Even after all this time, you yearn for me to return to you. Don’t you?” Himchan replied quietly, searching the other’s eyes for the answer he knew he’d find. Of course Yongguk still hadn’t let it go, yet. They were teenagers, preparing for their last year of high school. What they had hadn’t been love, it’d just been… hell. Just a physical relationship, at least for Himchan. Yongguk was Himchan’s best friend, but he was never meant to be his romantic partner. He didn’t know why they changed the fact, but they were damn lucky to return to the friendship they had. Maybe it wasn’t the same anymore, but it was close. And then Himchan met Jongup, and he felt his chest ache whenever he wasn’t around him. The boy’s dorky smile lit up his day, and put butterflies in his stomach. Something Himchan had never felt while dating Yongguk. What he had with Jongup was love, not mutual consent like it was with Yongguk. But deep down, he knew Yongguk still hadn’t been able to move on from it. Himchan had basically dumped him for the younger boy, and he was sure that somewhere deep down, Yongguk had somehow fallen in love with Himchan. Himchan moved on, Yongguk didn’t. And that was precisely the reason he kept rejecting Junhong. The precious baby of the Seoul Branch of Kamen Riders, and the one who inspired Yongguk to protect the world from the monsters that lurk in the night. Himchan recognized true love when he saw it, and Junhong was  _ the one _ for Yongguk. Yongguk and he had been polar opposites, they hadn’t been able to even stand each other’s guts sometimes. A lot of times. More than normal, which led them to drifting apart. Their relationship hadn’t lasted more than a year and a half, honestly. And it’d been off and on. However, Junhong was younger and brighter than anyone he’d ever seen. Junhong held a quiet power within him that demanded attention, and the attention it craved was Yongguk’s. Himchan knew what they did when they thought no one was around. Yongguk couldn’t sleep without feeling Junhong beside him? Yongguk’s anger curbed by Junhong’s gentleness? Even Himchan hadn’t been able to stop and angry Yongguk. But all it took was Junhong to touch him and it was over. But Yongguk wouldn’t take it, Yongguk wouldn’t let Junhong in anymore then he already was. The younger had already broken down Yongguk’s walls, so why did the elder continue to fight against it? It was stupid honestly.

“It’s just the driver, Himchan. What Junhong feels towards me is synthetic,” Yongguk grumbled under his breath. “And I loved you, I can’t just forget it that easily.”

“You deserve to be happy, and Junhong can be that for you. Stop torturing yourself for something in the past and start opening up. You’ve been given a second chance at love, but Junhong isn’t going to wait around forever. You’re hurting him, Yongguk. You don’t know that he cries himself to sleep sometimes in  _ that _ home. He’d stay here, far away from  _ them  _ if he knew you truly wanted him in your life. Aren’t you the one who keeps pressuring him to move into the Warehouse so they never hurt him again? Yet you change your mind on the flip of a coin. Don’t think I didn’t see your little exchange earlier this morning. Age is just a number, Yongguk. Stop this shit and go after him for once,” Himchan ranted before stepping back from Yongguk. For a second, he saw Yongguk’s eyes brighten just a little bit. 

Then he shook his head. “No, I can’t. Junhong doesn’t know what he wants, and I’m not about to give him love I can’t give. He deserves more than that.”

Himchan shook his head pathetically. “So you’ve led him on thinking that you like him back, because actions speak louder than words.” 

“I don’t know ok?” Yongguk said. “I can’t move on when I’m still in love with you, Himchan.”

Himchan shook his head in disgust. “You’re going to break his pure little heart, aren’t you?”

“Himchan…” Yongguk said quietly, but the other shook his head. “I’m trying!”

“You’re not trying hard enough! And before you realize it, he’s no longer going to be there for you. Not only will you lose me romantically, but him too. Don’t you realize that? And it’s going to be messy when you break his heart. Junhong is… scary… when he’s angry. And the driver he has, the one he made, will feed off of his emotions  _ towards you _ . Only you.”

“That doesn’t mean you can force me into feeling something that I don’t want!” Yongguk hissed, pushing the elder back angrily. “I don’t love him. I don’t love him. I don’t love him. I don’t love him!”

“Oh shut up with that crap! You’re fooling no one! Maybe you do still love me, but I know for a damn fact that you’re falling in love with that boy. Your nightmares of him turning evil and attacking us… and then dying in your arms, I know for sure that those aren’t because you just like him. You’re afraid of losing him. More than you were ever afraid of losing me. If I were to hurt that boy, you’d come unglued on me and don’t you dare deny it! You love him, so quit being an ass. I care very,  _ very  _ much about him. I want the best for that boy, because you saved his life. So don’t you dare break that beautiful heart of his.”

“You’re lying, Himchan. You’re so conceited to think that I actually have romantic feelings for someone who is way younger than me! He’s a child!”

“Maybe I was wrong about you,” Himchan said before storming out the door, slamming it shut behind him. He headed his way to Jongup and his shared room. Completely missing the fleeting back of another who’s tears were burning down his face. 

 

Junhong had led the two to the empty room beside Daehyun’s. He opened the door to reveal a dusty, small room that sort of resembled his own room at home. Not that he ever spent anytime in that hell hole, life was better here. Life was better with Yongguk, and the others. And his slowly rising best friend Jongup. Junhong shook his head, he shouldn’t think about where he came from. Not now, hopefully those damned Inves would kill his parents for him so he’d never have to go home again and be hurt by their hands.   To say he was surprised when he saw Youngjae and Daehyun friends again would be an understatement. He never really knew that the two had been close before he met Daehyun, but now he could see it. Despite everything Youngjae had done, Daehyun trusted him full heartedly again. And Junhong guess he’d let him… but if Youngjae ever stepped a foot out of line, he would end him. Bottom line. It was nice, though, to see Daehyun with a real smile again. 

“So… um, this is your new room! I’ll leave you to get acquainted and Daehyun can give you the tour. I better head back to Yongguk so we can get started on plans and all that!” Junhong said before making his way out of the door. Suddenly, someone grabbed his arm painfully, halting him.

“Junhong, hold on,” Daehyun said, meeting his eyes with a stern look. “I don’t think you should go in there. Yongguk… may need some space right now, to think.”

Junhong chuckled nervously. As if, Yongguk had told him multiple times he liked having Junhong around, that he offered a fresh pair of eyes to a problem Yongguk couldn’t figure out. Why would he need… space away from Junhong? Weren’t they two peas in a pod, weren’t they slowly falling in love like those fairy tales Junhong thought he’d hated? Yongguk didn’t need space! He loved Junhong! And wasn’t every love story supposed to work out? Wasn’t fate supposed to be kind to the dreamers? But then Junhong remembered the scars on his shoulders, his hips, his thighs of self-hatred. Fate had never been kind to him. Until he met Yongguk-hyung, his life had been pointless. One day after the next of hell, and he had considered multiple times of ending it for good. Wouldn’t that be so much better, after all? But then he met Yongguk, and he changed Junhong’s life. He unknowingly gave Junhong a reason to accept himself for who he was. Who’s care gave Zelo a reason to begin living… and fall in love. Fate wouldn’t be so cruel to him… wouldn’t take that away. Would it? 

“No Hyung, it’s fine. Yongguk-hyung is just tired, he gets like this when he’s tired. He won’t hurt me,” Junhong answered finally, but Daehyun didn’t look convinced. To be honest, Junhong wasn’t convinced either. “I need to… go. Take care of Youngjae-hyung…”

Junhong breathed in deeply before heading down the hall. He turned right at the intersection. The door to the living room was left ajar and he heard Himchan’s raised voice. Jealousy ignited in his gut when he got the feeling that it was just the two in there. The man Junhong loved, and the man who seemed to try and take him away. He’d never gotten along with the ‘mother’ of the group, especially when he messed everything up between Yongguk and he. Every kiss, every soft touch, every almost chance… Himchan ruined it. It was common knowledge that Yongguk would always abandon Junhong if Himchan was around, and it pissed him off every time.

“… I can’t. Junhong doesn’t know what he wants, and… give him love I can’t give.”

“… led him on thinking that you like him back…” Himchan answered. 

“…don’t know, ok?” He heard his hyung say. There was a brief silence before he continued. “I can’t move on when I still love you, Himchan.”

It felt like Junhong’s world just crashed. His chest hurt, he couldn’t breath. Did someone just rip his heart out of his chest? His tears brimmed at the bottoms of his eyes, and they started rolling down his cheeks. It had been years since the last time he cried.  _ Years _ . Even when he was preparing to hang himself off of the balcony, he hadn’t cried. But now… it felt like absolute hell as he realized that… his love for Yongguk… was never requited. He was exactly like Cha Hakyeon, and that hurt worse than it ever did.  _ Yongguk had led him on?  _ Who did he think he was, playing with Junhong’s feelings like that! What an asshole! Why did everyone think about themselves all the damn time? Was Junhong really… that worthless? Yongguk didn’t even let him fight as a Kamen Rider much, if at all… but here Junhong had been misreading it. It wasn’t because he loved Junhong! As if! No one ever loved him. No one, not even his parents who once told him to go kill himself because no one in the fucking world wanted a faggot around. No, Yongguk had never loved Junhong. He’d just been worried about his creation, the stupid thing in Junhong’s gut. It wasn’t fair! He’d thought he’d finally found someone who could love him for the broken person he was… and he’d been doing so well to. 

“You’re going to break his pure, little heart. Aren’t you?” He heard Himchan say and Junhong scoffed. It had already broke; shattered into a million and one pieces, just like everything else in Junhong’s life. After all, who wanted him around? Was there truly no one in life that could love Junhong for who he was. And Junhong sobbed, he covered his mouth so they couldn’t hear him, but he couldn’t stop himself from crying either. He just wanted to curl up in a fetal position and cry his heart out until he was numb once more. The numb feeling, maybe that’s the only thing that was supposed to fill his heart. 

“…lose me romantically…be messy when you break his heart. Junhong is scary… when he’s angry. And the driver…. feed off of his emotions…” He heard Himchan say in pieces, like the other was pacing the room.

“That doesn’t mean you can force me into feeling something that I don’t want! I don’t love him. I don’t love him. I don’t love him. I don’t love him!” He heard Yongguk shout and Junhong’s legs grew weak. His whole body started to shake as the tears poured down his face even more. Why did it always end like this? What had Junhong ever done wrong to deserve all the pain he’d received? Oh god, he hated himself so much. And it wasn’t even that Junhong was mad at Yongguk. He was mad at himself for mistaking Yongguk’s friendship for romantic feelings. He was such a disgusting human being. Junhong turned and fled, he didn’t want to get caught and have to confront Yongguk about it. It was sickening, he didn’t want the elder to hate him to. He probably already did. 

Junhong ran until he was safe in his secondary room. He slammed the door shut, locking it behind him. Junhong tore everything out of the tiny closet, making a mess on the floor about him, before sinking back first into the left over space. He brought his arms in on himself as his body shook worse and worse, sickening him from the inside out. He weakly grabbed the doorknob before slamming it shut, leaving him in the dark. His sobs were muffled as he buried his head in his hands, his broad shoulders shaking uncontrollably.  _ No one will ever love a faggot like you _ . He heard his mother say in his head.  _ Where did we ever go wrong in raising you? We gave you everything, and you returned the favor by becoming a freak!  _

_ You sicken your mother and I.  _ He heard his father say, the words spinning their ways around in his head on repeat. Everything in his childhood had played out once more.  _ Disgusting. This is why no one wants to be your friend. Why haven’t you killed yourself yet? The Junhong we know is dead, already. I thought we raised you right. I thought you were our son. Where did you take Choi Junhong? You have no right to that name. I wish I could beat the gay out of you, but no matter how many times I hit you it just leaves bruises. How could you betray us like this? Your whole family hates you, Zelo. Your name is Zelo from now on, because I can’t even say Junhong without getting sick. Worthless. Ugly. Faggot. Piece of shit. Nothing. A nobody. Hahaha, aw you’re cutting yourself you fucking attention whore. That kid is so fucking emo. Does that freak starve himself? His smile is so hollow, he’s dead. Worthless. Piece of shit. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. No one could ever love you. No one wants you around. You’re only worth the same amount as a pile of shit. It’s absolutely disgusting, you like men? How can something even be born into humanity? What are you? I don’t know you anymore, my best friend isn’t gay. My son isn’t gay, get out of the house. Never come back home! Mom’s sorry, she didn’t mean what she said. She told me to tell you she still loves you for who you are.  _ **_All lies. You’re mother was just joking, Junhong. That’s why they’re laughing at your face._ ** _ Didn’t you have a son named Junhong? No, he passed away years ago. It was horrible. If it wasn’t for the law, we would have thrown you away long ago.  _ **_I can’t cut deep enough, this pain… it’s too much. Would this world be better without me around? Yes. How much rope would it take for me to break my neck and die? How much would it hurt if I slit my wrists? Is there really anything left in life to live for? It’s so cold being alone, not even Daehyun knows what’s truly going on._ ** _ The second he finds out that you’re gay, he’ll leave you too. No one wants you around Choi Junhong. You’re a worthless piece of shit.  _ **_I hate myself. I hate myself. I hate myself. I hate myself. Someone save me, please. I’m sorry! Make this pain stop!_ **

_ What are you doing outside in the cold? _

**_I’m… i’m uh… it’s nothing… go away._ **

_ Wow, disrespectful! Looks like you’re bawling your eyes out. _

**_If you’re going to make fun of me, then do it inside so I don’t have to watch it._ **

_ I’m not making fun of you kid. I’m serious, you’re going to get sick and what good would that do if you’re in the hospital. Come inside, I may not be able to cook anything but Ramyun, but I can make a decent cup of coffee.  _

**_I don’t like coffee much_ **

_ Hot chocolate then? _

**_Why are you being so nice?_ **

_ Don’t know. Normally I’d just ignore a kid like you. But you’ve got something bothering you, and maybe your eyes are a little too bright to be hurting. Come on in, and I’ll show you some cool stuff my brother left me.  _

 

**_You should do it, Yongguk-hyung._ **

_ Why, though? I don’t have any riders right now, establishing a branch would be worthless. _

**_Trust in fate, hyung. Kamen Riders will come to you. I trust in that. This was left to you for a reason, your brother believes in you!_ **

_ I’m not ready for this kind of responsibility! Do you realize that if monsters attacked and destroyed Seoul, it’d be on my shoulders. _

**_I trust you, hyung. You wouldn’t let that happen, will you?_ **

_ Will you stay with me? Every step of the way, I’ll only do it if you’re here with me. _

**_Of course!_ **

_ Thank god, you mean too much to me for you to just walk away. And that’ll be the last time you hear that from me. I’m dying of embarrassment. But I’ll protect you, I won’t let the monsters hurt you. _

**_Yongguk-hyung!!!_ **

 

_ Stupid, worthless, piece of shit, faggot, failure, ugly, fat, disgusting. You should kill yourself.  _ **_Why haven’t I killed myself yet._ ** _ No one cares about you anymore.  _ **_I feel so alone anymore._ ** _ Are you ok?  _ **_Perfectly fine (Inside I’m dying, and it just doesn’t feel right)_ ** _ Is your arm sore today, Junhong?  _ **_Yeah, sorry Daehyun—hyung. Pulled a muscle. (I cut myself again last night, hyung. And I couldn’t stop after 20… I’m so afraid. I can’t stop myself)_ ** _. I don’t think anyone will ever love you Zelo. Not after what you’ve done. Why couldn’t you have been a normal kid, and loved a nice pretty girl? Why did you have to go fuck it up?  _ **_I’m sorry mom. I couldn’t control who I was. You don’t have to hate me, mom. I hate myself enough as it is._ ** _ Class, turn in what you draw of your futures! Junhong, why is yours only a gravestone and a coffin?  _ **_Sorry teacher, I didn’t know what to put down._ ** _ You’re sick, you’re diseased. I wish there was a cure to bring back my little boy. Where ever did he go. Stupid piece of shit son, why haven’t you killed yourself yet? _

**_Don’t you see… I’m trying? Why do you think I’m holding this knife? Imma make myself into a Jack-O-Lantern! Someone…. please save me. I don’t want to die._ **

_ I don’t love him! I don’t love him! I don’t love him! That doesn’t mean you can’t force me into feeling something that I don’t want! _

**_Hyung never wanted me around._ **

**_You snore when you sleep, despite you telling everyone you don’t._ **

_ Shut up! Gosh, you’re so sassy in the mornings. I don’t even know why I let you in. _

**_(But Yongguk-hyung. I think I’m falling in love with you, every single day. I don’t want to scare you) Do you love someone?_ **

_ Yes. And he’s the most amazing person I’ve ever met. He’s the sun in the darkest of my days.  _ **_(Hyung, why were you looking at me when you said that? Why are you running your hand through my hair? Am I… do you like me?)_ **

**_I guess he’s a lucky guy then._ **

_ No… I’m the lucky one.  _

**_You should get some more rest, hyung… (you’re beautiful when you sleep, hyung)_ **

_ You’re too distracting. How am I supposed to sleep with you around? _

 

_ But all along I don’t love him! I don’t love him! I don’t love him! I don’t love him!  _ An endless mantra in his head as his heart continued to shatter. It had been Himchan who Yongguk had loved.  _ You’re gay, Junhong. No man will ever want to love you. You should have never made that mistake damn it! I can’t associate myself with you! I can’t lose my status. I’m sorry Junhong.  _ **_It’s ok Gyeong-Ja-hyung. I understand. No one ever stays anyway, they never have. Go, before my disease infects you to. Run as fast as you can… save yourself._ **

_ I still love you, Himchan.  _

**_What changed Yongguk-hyung? I’m so sorry…_ **

Everything hurt again, and Junhong couldn’t take it. He couldn’t focus, he couldn’t see. He felt sick and unsteady. His heart ached and he felt like crying, but he couldn’t anymore. An ache settled deep in his bones, one he thought he’d outrun. But it was like fire, overpowering his thoughts. Cut free for almost an entire  year, but his body ached for it once more. Yongguk wouldn’t care if he did it again, anyway. He never had. But he’d been so happy once. But his parents were right, they’d always been right. Junhong was nothing… and he would always be nothing. That would never change… and he wanted to cry even harder, but  _ that _ Junhong was returning. Creeping around the corners… showing his ugly face once more. And he numbed up, on the outside. The mask that Yongguk himself had broken was slowly slipping into place, and Junhong wanted to scream. He didn’t want this life back. He was…  _ scared _ . 

Then he noticed it, the glint of a blade hidden underneath one of the many boxes he hadn’t thrown out. He remembered that that was where he’d thrown the few razors he had left before burying them. The universe really did hate him. His hand reached out and pulled the blade free, bringing it up to his eye level. And it was like his body went into panic mode, realizing just what Junhong intended with the blade. His hands shook and a warm, uncomfortable feeling filled his gut… his body going into emergency mode at the mere memory of what he used to do to himself. Junhong tightened his grip around the blade before pulling his shirt sleeve up on his shoulder. He looked down over the unbroken skin, still covered in the faint scars of the past. The endless mantra playing in his head as he pulled the tiny cap off of the blade. It was brand new, he’d never brought it to his skin before. That meant the blade wasn’t dull yet, and with no resistance, he brought the blade down on the skin around his shoulder. Pain erupted like fire, but the kick spread through him like a hit off of his favorite drug. He brought the blade across again, and again. Over and over until he filled the shoulder with red, angry claw marks. Then he moved onto the next shoulder, opening it up once more. His body screamed for him to stop, his vision shook as the addiction flared up strong once more. And here he’d thought he’d finally outrun the hatred… he thought Yongguk was going to save him.  _ But no one is ever going to save you Junhong. Why would they? You’re worthless. Just a little gay boy who lost his way, and now look at you. _

“I just… wanted to be a Kamen Rider and save lives. I wanted to be the knight in shining armor that Yongguk deserves. Why… why is everyone throwing me away?” Junhong wheezed as tiny droplets of dark crimson liquid trailed down his arms to drop onto his clothes. “Why am I… nothing?” Junhong couldn’t cut deep enough to get rid of that discomfort and sickness.

_ This is how people descend into insanity. All it takes is one little push, and the person you used to know is no longer around. _


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah... so this is awkward now.

“So you’re a part of the Seoul Branch of Kamen Riders?” Youngjae asked as he and Daehyun were making the other’s bed. Daehyun paused for a few seconds, his hands grasping for thin air. He nodded.

“I never knew,” Youngjae stated and Daehyun shrugged. “I never really wanted to tell anyone I guess.”

“Oh.” 

“Well, I mean I don’t do what I do for recognition. I realized that I made a mistake… and the result of it was me becoming something I guess I never wanted. And Yongguk-hyung needed more help then just Hakyeon and Junhong. So I guess I joined,” Daehyun explained, meeting Youngjae’s eyes for a brief second. He had the most beautiful, intelligent eyes Daehyun had ever seen. His cheeks heated up quickly, forcing Daehyun to look away immediately. He remembered their kiss, and feeling Youngjae’s hands on his body. It had felt so good, so amazingly good.

“You’re a Kamen Rider, aren’t you?” 

Daehyun nodded. “Yep… I picked up a driver. Probably shouldn’t have. And look where it got me.”

“Can I see it?”

Daehyun’s eyes widened as he looked over at the younger boy. Wasn’t that… like… well didn’t they just… almost… but still… what if Youngjae wanted to hold it? “I kinda can’t show you it.”

“Why not?” 

Daehyun smirked before putting his hands near his driver, waking the ball of energy up. The familiar pull in his gut greeted him before something started emerging outwards, materializing on the outside of his skin. Youngjae’s eyes widened, and his mouth dropped in awe as he watched the driver appear from Daehyun’s skin. “It’s sort of… attached to me, Youngjae. It exists within me. I will never be able to remove it until I die, and it gets passed onto the next person.”

“It’s beautiful,” Youngjae whispered, approaching Daehyun slowly. He stretched out his hand before stopping to look Daehyun in the eye, as if asking for permission. Daehyun didn’t have the strength to stop him, because suddenly his driver was burning through his veins. Daehyun’s hand automatically reached out to grasp Youngjae’s. It was like guiding him there was easy, and suddenly Daehyun’s nerves were set on fire once it met the driver. Warmth filled Daehyun’s bones, spreading to Youngjae… and it felt amazing. More than amazing. It felt like happiness, like love, like safety. Everything Daehyun had ever wanted after his mother got sick. And he realized that this was why the driver kept trying to reach out towards Youngjae. Because Daehyun had always loved the other, indefinitely. Forever. He shakily removed his hand from Youngjae’s to cup the other’s cheek before pulling him in for another kiss, and it was absolutely amazing. Tears threatened to roll down Daehyun’s cheeks when they separated. The kiss was nothing like before, it was sweet and warm, full of everything that Daehyun wanted to say to the other.

“I love you,” Daehyun whispered. “I know it’s too early to say that, but I have loved you for so many years.”

Youngjae pressed their foreheads together, looking up at Daehyun through his lashes. “It’s ok, Daehyunnie-pabo. I love you to.”

“Will you… will you stay with me? Will you be my boyfriend?” 

“You better take care of me, or I’ll kick your ass. But sure, Daehyun. Yes.” And then they kissed again until they were interrupted by the sound of Jaehwan running down the hall screaming “The Food is ready!” Which was then followed by a crash and a loud curse. Daehyun’s eyes widened in excitement at the mere thought of eating. And tonight the dessert was Cheesecake! He stormed out of the room like a trooper, jumping over the fallen form of Ken, before hurtling his way to the dining room _.  _

Junhong didn’t show up for supper that night, leaving Yongguk to wonder in sickness as to where the other could have disappeared to. He asked the two lovebirds, Daehyun and Youngjae, but they hadn’t seen him in the last couple of hours. His anxiety flared up when the boy still hadn’t shown up after supper, and that kid had never missed one of the meals at the warehouse. 

“Yah, Jongup-ah. Could you take a plate of food to Zelo’s room?” Yongguk asked and the younger nodded. Yongguk fixed up one of Junhong’s favorite foods, adding Cherry tomatoes to the side before handing the plate to Jongup. He watched the boy disappear, and he hoped the other could talk to Junhong. Yongguk felt horrible, and he didn’t even know why he felt horrible. He couldn’t face the younger rider. 

 

“Himchannie…” Jongup said after he returned to their shared room. What he had just seen… with Junhong, it made him feel sick. 

“Hm?” Himchan answered, looking up from the map he was looking at. 

“Did something happen with Junhong?” Jongup asked and the other looked up, startled. 

“What do you mean?” Himchan answered quietly, his voice weaker than normal. “Is Junhong… ok?”

“I-I don’t know,” Jongup answered, his hand going immediately to his pocket where he’d stashed what he’d stolen from Junhong. It scared him, there was so much blood staining the blade… he didn’t leave it with the younger another second. It had shocked him that… Junhong cut himself. “He… hyung, he locked himself in his closet… with a blade.”

The papers fell from Himchan’s’ hand, he was shaking now. Oh god… Junhong. Had he shut the door completely when he confronted Yongguk? Had the other come back earlier than he had planned? Junhong… “H-how bad?” Guilty tears started forming in Himchan’s eyes as he imagined the amount of pain the younger would be in if he had heard what Yongguk had said.

Jongup shook his head. “He’s… he’s… it’s not pretty…” Jongup started to cry as he remembered what Junhong looked like, large body crumpled up into a tight, small space with blood dried down his arms and staining his clothes. Dried tears that had streaked down his face,and the fitful sleep the other was in wouldn’t leave his mind. 

“D-did you…?”

Jongup nodded weakly, pulling the blade out of his pocket. “I searched the room for the rest, but I only found this one. I know he’s got some others stashed somewhere, I just know it.”

“Come here,” Himchan breathed, reaching his arms out towards Jongup. The other nodded before settling into Himchan’s embrace, relishing in the feel of the older clutching onto him. It wasn’t fair. Junhong was so… happy and sunshine. Why him to? “I messed up, Jonguppie. I wish I never would have existed.”

  
  


“Cha Hakyeon! You get your  ass back here right now!” Sanghyuk shouted, but it was like talking to a brick wall. A very sick brick wall that was most likely dying at the young age of 20 whatever he was. Hyuk forgot. Shit. Even if he lost the older, he knew where he’d find him. On normal days, he’d give up chase. He’d let the other go, because there was no stopping Hakyeon following his heart, or the one who held his heart in his hands without knowing. But the streets were quiet, the monsters settling down to sleep for the night… and Hakyeon was in danger. They both were, because Hakyeon had one henshin left before he would finally pass that line. The second he went over it, the next henshin he ever did… that would be the end. Hakyeon would break his transformation and most likely fall into a deep sleep, where he would then die in the next couple of months. It still amazed Hyuk at the pure stubbornness the man showed. Anyone less would have already quit, the pain had to be absolutely unbearable. And Hyuk was sure he ran his calculations right. He was of course a medical student, and at the top of his class. He was more than sure that Hakyeon was on his last leg. He’d run the results over with his professor and also the head doctor of Mercy Hospital. Hakyeon had no more fight left. Yet here he was, still doing his duties. Which is exactly why Hyuk wanted the older to stay at the headquarters. He could bring the band members in, Hakyeon shouldn’t be endangering himself like this! Was he stupid? Hyuk knew the answer to his own question. Hakyeon was stupid, he was very stupid. Muy stupido. Stupidly in love with Jung Taekwoon who was in love with, and currently in a relationship with their lead rapper. 

God, the streets were so empty though. It was eery, and quiet. He hoped beyond levels that the citizens were actually indoors and not… missing. And he hoped his bandmates were ok, and Hongbin too. He hadn’t seen the guys in a day and a half, working with Yongguk made you lose track of time. But what they’d created had been a waste of time anyway, upon trial inspection, it didn’t work out. Leaving them back at square one with nothing to show for it.

Oh nice, there were the VIXX dorm rooms up ahead. He had totally lost track of time. Sanghyuk made his way up the elevator before finding their dorm room. He entered the code and sauntered in, hoping for the best. And it was like all of his weariness washed away as he saw Hongbin complaining loudly about whatever and Ravi was smacking him in the eye with a fly swatter. Hakyeon was just standing there, frozen in life like a picture and it scared him to see the likeness between ice and him. 

“Hyung!” Hong bin exclaimed, squeezing Hakyeon in a tight hug. Hyuk wanted to shout at him, and pull him away because didn’t that Pabo see the way Hakyeon tensed up from the mere pain of the action? 

“Y-you guys… need to come with me,” Hakyeon said quickly, pushing Hongbin away slightly. His eyes turned back to focus on Hyuk for a few seconds before he looked back towards the others.

“We we’re so worried!” Ravi stated, stepping closer to Hakyeon. “Those monsters out there… it’s dangerous out there! What are they? What the hell is going on?”

Hakyeon ignored him, surprise surprise. “There’s a safe place I can take you three too. You won’t have to worry about the monsters.” 

“Hakyeon?” A soft voice asked, emerging from his room was none other than Jung Taekwoon. He looked tired, dark bags underneath his eyes. He knew of Hakyeon and his fight, and he knew that Leo was sleeping so well because of it. Why couldn’t the idiots realize that they were in love with each other, they were meant to be together… but Leo turned to Ravi instead of N in fear of rejection. 

“Taekwoonie…” Hakyeon whispered, eyes down cast as he refused to look up at the younger. “Come with me, Taekwoon. I’ll get the kids to somewhere safe.”

“Ok,” Taekwoon replied and that was it. It was like those two were one of a kind, complete in balancing each other out. VIXX was officially going into hiding. 


	15. Chapter 15

 

**Finally figured how to insert pictures hahaha. So here's Banglo for Banglo shippers out there. Are there any?**

The morning sun filtered in through the only windows in the warehouse, lighting the room up in a soft, artificial glow. It was peaceful inside the warehouse, but outside, a battle was raging. Monsters poured out across the streets, dragging citizens away before mauling them to death. Suddenly, their team leader was going through the halls banging on the doors. 

“Get your lazy asses up and get in the Surveillance room!” Yongguk shouted, banging on Daehyun’s door extra hard. He swore that kid was like a zombie. His hand froze at Junhong’s door though, he hadn’t heard from him since… yesterday after the meeting. He felt, somehow, like it was his fault that Junhong was being so aloof. He tried to think back to having offended the other, but there was no win. He shook his head before slamming his fist against the door. “Junhong, get up!” He knew the other stayed the night there, but it was a surprise that he’d actually stayed in his room last night. Didn’t he say that he was… never mind. He quietly padded away from the door down the hall seconds before the growing giant emerged out of his room. 

If anyone saw him now, they wouldn’t see the brightness in his eyes anymore. It was dull, and there was an ever present smirk threatening to break out on him. The epitome of insanity. But no one saw that, because they knew not to look.

 

With the help of Ravi, Jaehwan, and Hongbin, food was brought in on trays to the team of Kamen Riders currently huddled over a map. They set the plates down quietly before serving the others lounging in the room. However, the three were completely oblivious to the food, the only one actually noticing it being Daehyun. He immediately dug in, scooping spoon fulls of eggs into his mouth whilst munching happily. The TV was playing in the background quietly, capturing the attention of VIXX’s maknaes’ as they ate. Taekwoon was sitting near, the TV, to… but he couldn’t keep his attention on it long enough. His eyes kept wandering to his best friend who had completely ignored his existence since they arrived at the safe house last night. Sure, he was busy… but… it felt like he didn’t want Taekwoon to be around. They fought, he knew that… but… to be coldly thrown away like that? His boyfriend, Ravi, was too preoccupied to talk to Taekwoon about it anyway… so he just sat there awkwardly watching his best friend interact closely with a bunch of people he’d never met in his left except for Yongguk. He’d talked to Yongguk once before, but that had been a mistake. It looked like the man was fighting his own battle internally. Leo shook his head before sighing loudly. His eyes flicked back up to Hakyeon, and for a brief second they met, but then Hakyeon looked away. 

“What about there?” He heard Yongguk whisper and Hakyeon shook his head quickly.

“That would be super unbusy. We have to face the fact that the Riders need to go into the worst situations,” Hakyeon replied quickly, pointing to something on the map. “Since no Kamen Riders are able to come to our aid, and the last we heard from one was Godai Yusuke and he’s returning to Tokyo to Ichijou briefly.”

“But Ichioe street… though? That’s almost right on top of the huge breach between our worlds,” Yongguk said but was interrupted by a phone ringing. Before he could go and get it, Himchan beat him to it. He watched the man’s face fall, glancing briefly towards Daehyun before hanging up. It wasn’t something good. 

“We could put me here, hyungs,” the youngest of the entire group said coldly, glaring up at his elders mockingly. 

“What’s wrong with you today, Junnie?” Yongguk hissed, causing two of the other people… (Himchan and Jongup) to freeze.

“Yongguk!” Himchan scolded darkly, receiving a glare from the youngest. It looked like that kid was… insane. Taekwoon shook his head, he was just tired. The kid wasn’t insane, what was he thinking. 

Yongguk cleared his throat awkwardly. “Anyway, you’d be too far away from help if something bad happened.”

“I can take care of myself, I don’t need a babysitter,” Junhong hissed before snapping the pencil he held in his hand. He threw it at Yongguk, but it bounced harmlessly off of his chest. The elder narrowed his eyes at the other. 

“Junhong,” Hakyeon spat, neck chopping the other harshly. “Do not speak to the man like that! You’ve never been like this!”

Junhong’s smirk fell. “Sorry.” He shifted awkwar _ dly from foot to foot, scratching the back of his head like a little kid. Something was definitely off about him.  _

 

“We’re not going to be able to send any of the members out to you,” Yongguk said towards Hakyeon, setting down the black sharpie he was holding. It was physically impossible. They had Jongup, and they had Himchan (Yongguk’s heart ached at the thought of sending the other out into danger) but as far as capable fighting hands went, that’s all they had. “It’ll be up to you whether you call this or not.”

“We’re not tucking tail and running. I’m going to fight till my last breath,” Hakyeon whispered quietly. “And I think the same goes for all three of us. Instead of teaming up… I think we should disperse and cover more ground. If The Hawk is out there waiting, my bet is he’s gonna go after Daehyun for his driver.”

“So we put Daehyun in the middle,” Junhong stated and it sounded reasonable. The Hawk would send most of the monsters at Daehyun, and Yongguk was 100% sure that the other could handle them on his own. Hakyeon was on his last straw, with the ability to only afford one more henshin before bad, bad things would happen to him. And Junhong… he wasn’t emotionally stable enough to even go out there. Not that Yongguk even wanted to send him into danger, he had no choice. The thought of Junhong getting hurt… it left a bad taste in his mouth. 

“Then I guess we go with this plan?” Yongguk said and the three nodded.

“Sounds reasonable.” 

“ ‘kay then do you want us to head out?” Junhong asked and the leader nodded.

“Put some extra clothing on, just in case and then head out. We’ll watch you from the camera’s. I had Youngjae hack into the city’s cameras this morning.”

The three nodded before gently folding the map up and set it under the table. Yongguk turned the overhead lamp off before following the three out the door. Himchan grabbed his arm, though.

“Two things. You better watch out for Junhong, because I’m scared he’s going to do something stupid. Something isn’t right, but I can’t tell you here. Second of all, Daehyun…. his mom… the hospital just called us. We should tell him… but I don’t want it to distract him,” Himchan said.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“She… passed away last night, in her sleep.”

Himchan let him go after that, the two following after the Rider trio. The hall was quiet as they made their way to the training room, the rest of VIXX in tow just by pure curiosity. Hakyeon opened the door slowly, allowing everyone to pass through before he shut it _. _

Sanghyuk handed each of the riders a chest cover, proven to withstand a slash from the Inves. One of Junhong and Yongguk’s inventions, and it worked really well. He let the others put it on before reaching over to help Hakyeon. The other met his eyes briefly before flicking away once more and he rejected Sanghyuk’s help. They grabbed their motorcycle gloves and pulled them on before mounting their bikes. Sanghyuk picked up one of Hakyeon’s favorite guns before slipping it too him, along with a lot of extra ammo. Slowly one by one, the engines kicked on of the bikes. 

“Remember, Hyung, that you get one more henshin so use it wisely. Be safe out there, and if you need backup call us or Daehyun or Junhong. They’ll be at your side in a second,” Sanghyuk reminded before slapping him lightly on the shoulder. He passed Hakyeon his helmet before stepping away from the bike. The other looked up at him briefly before pulling the helmet on over his head. His eyes glanced at the door before he sighed.

“Wait!” Youngjae shouted as he came bursting through the door carrying a gun in hand and a large sword on his back. He was dressed similar to the other riders. “I’m going.”

Daehyun looked up at him startled. “No you’re not.”

“Yes I am.”

“You don’t know how to fight these things, they’re not people. If you’re not careful, and they slash you, you’ll get sick. Or worse! You’re not going!” Daehyun argued but he couldn’t stop Youngjae from nearing his bike and hopping on the back. The younger boy wrapped his hands around Daehyun’s waist before settling the gun in between the two. 

“Too late,” Youngjae laughed and he heard the rider huff.

“We’ll, we’re off.” Junhong said before pulling up the kick stand. He pulled on his helmet quickly before revving the engine of his motor cycle. 

“Junhong…” Yongguk said quietly, looking at the younger. “Be safe.”

The other smirked at him from beneath the helmet. He had a strange feeling that he wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon. He took off first with Hakyeon close on his heels later followed by the DaeJae pair. They took off onto the streets of Seoul, passing by the gathering numbers of monsters. 

 

“Thank God, I was getting old,” A man laughed. “Now it’s time to play.”


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So The Hawk's plans never really involved Daehyun. The Hawk has a few different victims... he's smarter then what the Kamen Riders thought.

**Sorry, I just really love Banglo. I'm probably the only shipper out there anymore, but I still love Junhong(Zelo)/ Yongguk. Just do lol. FIGHTING Yongguk! Stay strong!**

Sanghyuk and Yongguk made their way back to the surveillance room where everyone was huddled around the multiple mini screens adorning the walls. Yongguk sat in one of the two chairs at the desk while Sanghyuk sat in the other. The man pulled a small headset on and activated the mike before setting up the keyboard. He connected his link to the other three riders. 

“Alright guys, it’s show time,” Sanghyuk stated. Yongguk pulled on his own intercom link, his eyes scanning over the security cameras following the progress of the the small group. His eyes hovered over Junhong’s form a second longer before guilt clenched his heart painfully.  _ Be safe _ . His poor Junhongie. 

 

Junhong glanced over at the DaeJae pair and then Hakyeon before he gulped. The time had finally come and Junhong was all alone this time. He felt bitter about it, but he couldn’t let himself think about it for too long. It wasn’t right. They were coming up on their intersection point where he’d branch off from the group and he’d only hope to see them again after the battle. To say he was scared would be an understatement, but he trusted Yongguk’s work to get him through alive. Not that he trusted the older anymore, though. Yongguk was an asshole. Soon, Hakyeon’s street came up and he watched the dying rider disappear down the road and soon it came Junhong’s turn. He pulled out his long blade, the only thing he preferred to fight with and took off down the street plowing down hundreds of Inves until he hit one large enough to send him toppling over it. 

Junhong landed heavily on the ground, his sword skidding away from him. He rolled to his feet before diving for the weapon. He was able to get his hands on it fast enough to protect himself from an oncoming threat. He sliced off its claw in his rage before driving the blade deep into its chest. It disintegrated in an explosion after that. Junhong waded into the hundreds of monsters, slicing down any that dared to take him. Eventually, they overwhelmed him and at the first break he received, he summoned the driver to his waist. Junhong spun in a circle before shouting henshin. His armor exploded around him and new energy exploded through his veins. He trampled over hundreds of the little bodies before a large flying monster came at him and drug him off his feet. It dug its talons into Junhong’s joints before ripping out chunks of armor. It pierced through, clawing at his arms and Junhong stabbed as hard as he could, but it wouldn’t get off. He tried pushing it off of him, but it screeched and started biting his neck. And that’s when Junhong realized… he didn’t know how to fight. In all the time he’d chased after Yongguk, he’d never spent time learning how to fight when he was on his back. And Junhong felt like crying because his suit was getting ripped apart and it was starting to hurt as his blood started to spray up from the claws. Not even a few minutes in and Junhong was already going to die. 

“Junhong, listen to me!” Yongguk’s voice was frantic, scared. “Roll yourself out and crawl.” And it was like Yongguk’s voice was a beacon of hope in his panic riddled brain. He was able to crawl away from the bird and tackle it to the ground before driving his sword down into its throat over and over again until its body quit moving completely. “Junhong… are you ok?”

“I-I’m ok hyung,” Junhong replied before shakingly getting to his feet.

“Behind you, drive the sword into its chest,” Yongguk stated and like a well-oiled machine, Zelo followed Yongguk’s word and killed the monster behind him. “To your left.” Another monster down. And Zelo eventually fell into the habit of trusting Yongguk more than he trusted himself with the sword. It was on his 15 monster that it changed.

“Ah Choi Junhong,” a voice said happily, a hand appearing on his shoulder. His henshin shuddered and suddenly he was losing his Kamen Rider form. Junhong fell to his knees, perfectly human in a sea of monsters.

“Now that’s better,” the hawk grinned, pressing his palm into the top of Junhong’s head. “Good boy.”

“JUNHONG!”

 

It was pretty easy to see that it didn’t take Hakyeon long to be overwhelmed by the sea of monsters. A few shots of his gun and his body was already exhausted beyond limits. And judging by the monsters coming his way, there was more to come. If he was going to use his henshin, it’d be now. While he was still alive to do so. Hakyeon screamed as the form overtook his body and a murderous rage filled his weary bone. Hakyeon dropped all of his weapons before jumping onto the nearest inves before ripping it apart with his claws. He was flung back by another, but he managed to gourge its eyes out before tossing the body at another. Even that wasn’t enough. Hakyeon’s first hit was his head, and it was hard enough to break a piece of his helmet off uncovering his eyes. Hakyeon stumbled before sinking his claws into the monster’s chest. It howled in rage, swiping its claws at Hakyeon but the later pushed it away before sinking the suit’s teeth into its juggler before ripping it away. The body spasmed for a few seconds before going still. Hakyeon turned his murderous glare on some more monsters before slamming his fists into the ground. The ground opened up in a fiery hell as the monsters fell through, screaming as they burnt to a crisp. 

Hakyeon dove into the next mob of monsters easily, the blood staining his hands and flowing down the street into the nearest storm drain. Hakyeon didn’t know whose blood it was, really. 

 

Daehyun and Youngjae arrived at their destination, but it was completely barren. They expected that, after all. It was bait to draw The Hawk out towards them so they wouldn’t focus on the other two. The other two who were fighting wave after wave of monsters fearlessly while they waited for a monster that may not even come. It was a stupid idea, Daehyun thought, but he knew his hyung and Junhong could handle the monsters easily. He was sure of it. He hoped. He  _ prayed _ they’d hold out.

“Daehyun! Head to Junhong’s aid, the Hawk showed up with him. Go!” He heard Yongguk’s frantic voice say and then the two were back on their motorcycles rerouting towards the other boy. They’d reach him in roughly ten minutes, would that be soon enough?

 

“Ah Junhonggie,” the hawk cooed affectionately, pinching Junhong’s cheeks. “I was glad I could draw you out, your hyungs are so foolish. Daehyun can keep that damned driver. Because you know why? Hmmm?” the Hawk laughed without telling him. The man grabbed Junhong’s shoulders before dragging him to his feet.

“So you’re the boy that has always been broken. The one I knew I could influence easily enough,” the Hawk laughed, patting the boy’s head before taking a few steps away from the other. “If it wasn’t your parents telling you you weren’t good enough to even live, then it was those bullies at school. But you’re a strong boy, aren’t you? Always foolishly following Yongguk hyung like he was the only light in your pathetic life. He was wasn’t he.”

Every word the man said… was a jab to Junhong’s already shattered heart. So true. And it was like with every movement, it hurt to breath. If Junhong could, he’d curl up in a ball and cry until Yongguk came for him to save him from this mess. Junhong wasn’t a fighter. He never wanted to be. He hated killing, because his parents were killing  _ him _ .

“Ah, to make it worse you were going to confess just how much you loved your hyung. Just how much he meant to you, and that he was your reason for stopping. He was your reason for waking up every morning,” The hawk pouted. “Believe me, I know what it feels like to be so foolishly in love. And did it hurt when you realized… no when you overheard him talking about playing your feelings and loving someone else. How much did it hurt?” 

Junhong looked up at him in shock. How did he… know all that? No one was supposed to know of that day… no one. 

“It’s ok, Junhonggie. Admit it, your precious Yongguk broke your pathetic little heart. And you want to be angry at him, but you realize… ah you really were nothing to him in the end. Just some foolish kid he felt sorry for and wanted to rebound with until he dropped you to the side like a bad habit. Poor baby, he never did treat his little toys right.”

“I’m not a toy,” Junhong said with grit teeth, he yanked his ear piece out and threw it to the ground. Now he wouldn’t hear Sanghyuk’s annoying voice telling him to run. He wouldn’t run now, this horrible man had outed his secret to the whole world. He was going to kill him, and bathe in his stinking filthy blood. 

“You are, and you won’t even admit it. Your parents don’t want you around, your best friend finally met up with  _ his _ best friend, so you’re out to the curb with them. And then your precious love of your life has admitted that he only likes you platonically and it’s so much… hmmm,” The Hawk laughed before patting Junhong’s shoulder. “It’s ok, I was thrown away like a filthy wretch too. You never get over that pain, only I killed everyone who ever made me feel like that.”

The Hawk sighed pathetically, looking at Junhong with the exact same kind of pity that he hated. “But it’s ok, Junhong. I’m here now, and I’ll take care of you. I’ll give you everything you ever wanted. Everything. Revenge, happiness, love… you’ll get it all, and all you have to do is join me.”

“Join you?” Junhong whispered, looking down at his hands. 

“If you join me, you’ll never have to see Yongguk’s face again. That means no more rejection, no more hurt. You get to be Choi Junhong again. I’ll fix what he broke.”

“I…” The connection to the surveillance room was lost at that. 

 

“Do you see him, Daehyun?” He heard Yongguk ask, but Daehyun shook his head.

“There’s nothing here, hyung. It’s like the boy disappeared. I’m sorry. We’ve already spent a half an hour searching, he’s no longer here hyung.” Daehyun answered causing an uproar on the other side. All Yongguk’s voice, slamming his fist down onto the table over and over again as he let out an agonized scream. Daehyun cringed at the sound, but there was nothing else he could do. This one was on Yongguk, not Junhong or any of them. 

There was no other choice… Junhong must’ve accepted the Hawk’s offer, and now he was the enemy. It killed Daehyun to think of the younger boy like that. But… sometimes you don’t really know a person until they break and their true feelings come out. 

“Where’s Taekwoon?” He heard Sanghyuk ask on the other line. 


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Hakyeon... yeah... sorry man.
> 
> Plus protective Leo is the best.

 

Hakyeon was doing really well until he got hit in the back by a steel pipe and his transformation fizzeled out around him. He fell face first to the ground, spitting out the blood pooling up in his mouth from overworking his body. He shook as coldness overswept his body, but Hakyeon couldn’t move. It hurt too much to move. Suddenly there were monsters clawing at his back and he closed his eyes. So this was how he died. It seemed all too proper.

Hakyeon didn’t really feel the pain from the thousands of Inves converging on him. His body was surprisingly numb. Maybe dying would be like this too. Certainly that blood flowing past his vision was his, it was red after all. Did Inves have red blood? He didn’t think so. His driver ached from where it was on his waist, and Hakyeon smiled. So the driver would finally kill him in the end anyway. It was fitting, this way. Dying a Kamen Rider’s death, far away from help. No one was coming to save him this time. No one. 

Hakyeon couldn’t even hear the people screaming through his earpiece, his eyes were becoming unfocused. Had his body always been this weightless? He felt a little woozy. He hoped he bled to death instead of get his head bit off. It was in that moment that Hakyeon realized he didn’t want to die. 

But Hakyeon couldn’t hold out for very much longer. Maybe it was better that he couldn’t feel them ripping him apart. He felt so numb it was amazing, he couldn’t even move his fingers. Maybe Sanghyuk had been wrong. It wasn’t the next henshin that took all the feeling from his body but this one. He was damn lucky he was going to die instead of having to live the rest of his life like this. It was getting darker now, his body was shutting down from the blood loss. Suddenly he heard a distressed man’s cry and the weight on his body lessened with the sound of a steel pipe colliding with flesh. 

“Get. Off. Of. Him!” he heard Jung Taekwoon hiss as he hit another unsuspecting Inves with the pipe, sending it reeling backwards. The larger man was immediately at Hakyeon’s side, pulling him up to his feet weakly. 

Hakyeon tried to utter the words ‘Don’t, your shirt is getting stained by my blood. Leave me here to die, please’ but they didn’t come out. He just slumped over the man he’s loved since the first time they met. It was like Taekwoon knew what he was trying to say, but he didn’t say anything else. It frustrated Hakyeon. The man pulled N’s arm over his shoulder and dragged his lifeless body with him as they backed away from the monsters. Cold fingers brushed his ear before the intercom link was drug out and pressed into Taekwoon’s ear.

“I’ve got Hakyeon. Why can’t he move his body?” Taekwoon asked into the piece, probably connecting with Hyuk. He huffed quietly when he got a garbled answer. “So your paralyzed Hakyeon. It’s ok, i’m going to get you out of here.” He set Hakyeon against a brick wall and branded his steel pipe like a maniac. A pipe, though, wouldn’t work forever. He’d eventually get overrun and he needed to convey that too Taekwoon. Somehow. But his jaw wouldn’t work, and tears started welling up in his eyes. Would he never be able to talk again? Or move his hands? What was life if he couldn’t speak again? No, he would speak. He would force himself to speak.

“G-g…” Hakyeon forced out, catching Taekwoon’s eyes and using them to gesture towards the gun lying a few meters away from them. It would help Taekwoon out immensely. “G-g-g…u-“ That was all Hakyeon could wheeze out, it hurt to move his lips. He couldn’t move them.

“Gun?” Taekwoon whispered, finally noticing Hakyeon’s greatest weapon as a sniper rider. He rushed into the sea of monsters, knocking over multiple large bodies before rolling and snatching the weapon. He fought his way back towards Hakyeon, receiving multiple slashes upon his skin. The sight of Taekwoon bleeding for Hakyeon made him so infinitely mad he wanted to cry. “I’m going to get you out of here,” Taekwoon whispered, pushing his body in-between the monsters and Hakyeon.

“Aw, playing the hero hmm?” A man laughed and suddenly an ugly man showed his head. The Hawk… was here. “See… we don’t need you. My whole plan is to get to your little buddy there. I’d be paying him a favor, anyway, because no one wants to live life paralyzed from the head down after all.” The man took a step towards them, the Inves parting for him to give him a clear path towards the two. Taekwoon squared his shoulders towards the man, practically growling at the other. 

“T-tae…” Hakyeon breathed, but it didn’t come out right. He wanted to tell him to run away, and Hakyeon would deal with this evil, evil man. Somehow. 

“Listen to your little boy toy, Jung Taekwoon. This is between me and him, not you. So leave, I don’t prefer killing people with my own hands,” The Hawk sighed, winking at Taekwoon happily. 

“So what… you can kill Hakyeon? No.” Taekwoon answered, raising the gun towards the man. He pulled the safety back and slid his finger to the trigger.  

“You shouldn’t have done that,” The Hawk laughed before raising his hand out towards Taekwoon. Beneath his skin, a strange greenish fire started to glow, trailing downwards to his fingertips. It was Hakyeon who figured it out. Taekwoon was too blinded by his rage.

Hakyeon summoned everything in his body, all the energy he’d lost and he channeled it through the driver. Bringing it to life, giving it an identity of its own. It drug Hakyeon’s body up, the form flickering around his skin and he screamed as it grew out of his skin. Fire erupted throughout his whole body, burning down his skin to a smoldering mess and he shook uncontrollably. His head ached worse than it ever did, and his teeth were permanently grit together. Hakyeon’s fist clutched Taekwoon’s t-shirt before yanking him backwards, hard against the wall in time when the attack hit him square in his chest. It burned, eating away at his armor, and Hakyeon shakily held his hand up at the man. Everything, he poured into his arm. His identity, his life, his entire pathetic existence came exploded out towards the man in hot, red flames lashing at the man’s skin. Hakyeon lurched forward sickly, dots appearing in his vision.

“You bastard!” The Hawk screamed before he turned and fled as fast as he could, holding onto the skin melting from his bone. Hakyeon maniacally laughed, throwing his head back. And then his strength gave out on him and he fell face forward to the ground. The armor disappeared, leaving the broken form of Hakyeon.

Taekwoon jumped to his feet before rolling him onto his back. “Hakyeon?” His eyes focused on Taekwoon’s beautiful face one last time… there was a weird darkness coating the edges of his vision. Was this what dying was like?

“Hey… stay with me. Help is on the way,” Taekwoon whispered but Hakyeon only smiled stupidly. He wished he could lift his arms to caress Taekwoon’s face… but his arms wouldn’t even budge. 

“T-tae…” Hakyeon spluttered out, drowning the rest of the name in the blood bubbling in his mouth. Taekwoon pulled Hakyeon into his arms gently. 

“Shhhh… don’t speak, ok?” Taekwoon whispered, pushing the sweaty matted hair out of Hakyeon’s face. “You’re going to be ok…”

“I… love…you,” Hakyeon wheezed before the darkness engulfed him and his eyes closed, his body going limp in Taekwoon’s arms. Hakyeon was glad to finally meet death as old friends. He didn’t want to die.


	18. Chapter 18- A Month and a Half Later

**The OTPS of B.A.P. at least for me, Himup, Banglo, and lastly DaeJae. Woohoo. It's over.**

“Taekwoon, you’re still here?” Daehyun asked before sitting in the chair beside the silent man. The last remaining rider’s eyes traveled to the man in the hospital bed. An IV was attached to him, an oxygen tube taped to his mouth. Life support. He was in a coma. He was brain dead, but as Hakyeon’s closest guardian almost… Taekwoon wouldn’t let them take away the only thing keeping Hakyeon’s body alive. 

Daehyun’s  chest hurt as he looked down at the man’s lifeless body. He wasn’t coming back, Hakyeon was gone. He’d gone to a better place… if only Taekwoon would let his body go too. Daehyun had already done his fair share of crying… this wasn’t what was supposed to happen. They’d been trying so hard to save him! Yongguk, Sanghyuk… and Junhong (his throat closed up on him imagining the younger). Where on Earth could be Kamen Rider OneShot? Daehyun put a gentle hand on Taekwoon’s stiff shoulders, he’d probably been sitting in that very same chair, very same position since 6 this morning. He’d been here for almost 12 hours already, Daehyun shook his head. Why couldn’t Taekwoon understand… Hakyeon wasn’t waking up ever again. Hyuk and he had had a talk about it. The last henshin was the one that would have killed him. And it did, but Hakyeon had wanted that. Didn’t he? It was better than paralyzation for life. Still… Hakyeon was a close friend. 

“He’s going to wake up,” Leo rasped stubbornly, taking Hakyeon’s hand in his. “He’s strong, he’s going to come back.”

“Leo…” Daehyun sighed, getting up from the chair. He was  _ brain dead _ . No one was home in there, and as much as Daehyun hated thinking about it…. he was gone. There was no getting the man back. But Daehyun shut his mouth, because he was in the presence of the great man himself and he couldn’t hurt Hakyeon anymore then he had. Daehyun didn’t  _ like _ Jung Taekwoon much, or even at all. He felt a large amount of bitterness towards the man… but this was the one person Hakyeon had loved to the moon and back. He had to show him the respect that he didn’t deserve.

“I know… because I feel him. Here,” Taekwoon whispered. “Still.”

But he was gone, Taekwoon. He sacrificed his life for you, can’t you let him go? But maybe Hakyeon is smiling down at them from wherever he is now, maybe he’s happy that Leo, in the end, cared about him. He hoped that Hakyeon was dancing and singing wherever he was, telling stories of how he saved hundreds of lives. They’d see him again, someday. Somewhere. But hopefully not soon, and hopefully Junhong would be with them when it was time to go. Riders always die young. Daehyun’s pager went off and he sighed before patting Leo on the back gently before leaving the room. He’d come back to visit his friend and mentor again, and Leo would still be there.  

  
  


Himchan balanced the lunch he had personally made for Yongguk in one hand whilst stopping in front of his laboratory. He tried the handle but found it locked, but that didn’t surprise Himchan. It was always locked now, Yongguk wasn’t the same.

“I brought food Yongguk,” Himchan said, gently knocking on the door. 

“Go away,” Yongguk’s deep voice hissed, and then something solid collided with the door on the other side. “I’m not hungry.”

“You haven’t eaten since last week, you need to eat,” Himchan answered but the other threw another projectile towards the door. Himchan sighed before setting the plate down and slide down to a sitting position, back against the wall. “How are you holding up?”

It was silent on the other side but Himchan expected that too. He didn’t know what was happening in there but he had a pretty good image. And it wasn’t pretty. Yongguk’s grief process was silent and long… and he never reached out to anyone during.  _ He reached out to Junhong _ . After the mess that Himchan and he had gotten into, Yongguk had taken to relying on the younger boy. And now he was gone… to. As if losing Hakyeon wasn’t hard enough. 

“I broke him, channie,” Yongguk rasped, much closer to the door then before. Himchan was sure he was lying against the other side, most definitely. “I never wanted to hurt him… but I spoke against my better judgement, and I was so angry… angry at myself…. and he…” Yongguk’s voice choked up at that. “he… heard me…”

“Do you love him?”

“I….. I don’t know…. I think I do… but it’s always… too late,” Yongguk sobbed. “He’s either…. evil, now…. or…..”  _ Dead. _

It was what Himchan feared would happen, and now the mess was even bigger. And his little baby jello is somewhere out there, lost, in pain and…. he couldn’t think about it. Yongguk was more willing to think he was dead, but Himchan knew deep in his bones that he wasn’t. He was broken beyond repair, and he was preparing to hurt what hurt him. And that put Yongguk into danger. But would Yongguk even protect himself when he finally faced Zelo once more? Or would he let Zelo reenact his revenge?

It wasn’t pretty, and Himchan sighed quietly to himself. Everything had fallen apart, and the Seoul Branch would never be the same again.


End file.
